


I See You

by forgetmenotjimmy



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Teen Titans - All Media Types, Titans (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Animal Transformation, Awkward Conversations, Betrayal, Brotherly Love, Canon-Typical Violence, Conditioning, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Donna Troy is Awesome, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Fluff, Gen, Gunshot Wounds, Hallucinations, Hurt Dick Grayson, Hurt Rose Wilson, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Killing, Kori whips these fools into shape, Minor Dick Grayson/Koriand'r, Protective Jason Todd, Rachel scared for her dad, Rescue, Revenge, Secret Crush, Secrets, Self-Sacrifice, Swearing, Team as Family, Torture, Training, Whump, teamdad!Dick, why yes we do kill villains here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:33:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27672077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forgetmenotjimmy/pseuds/forgetmenotjimmy
Summary: Dick realizes Rose and Slade’s plan when Jason has been kidnapped.He goes to Rose with an offer.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Everyone, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Dick Grayson & Raven, Dick Grayson & Rose Wilson
Comments: 54
Kudos: 106





	1. The Offer

**Author's Note:**

> Because there can never be enough 'Dick tries to sacrifice himself for someone else' fics. I'll put a warning on the chapter with the torture scene so it can be skipped if needs be, though it is about canon-level.  
> Most of this is written, so I'm hoping to update every few days. Unbeata'd so let me know if you spot anything.  
> Hope you enjoy!  
> :D

On the drive back to the Tower after finding Jason’s tracker on Dr Light’s body, Dick’s mind turned and turned. 

They needed to get Jason back. Over the months in the Tower, he’d grown so fond of the kid, rough edges and all. Little things Jason did, like scrunching his nose at Dick’s attempts at ‘cool’ healthy food or shrugging off any compliments, were so adorable and warmed something deep inside. 

Hearing his little brother screaming down the phone had made his heart clench so hard he thought it might stop beating altogether. It was his fault Jason had felt the need to prove himself; it was his fault Deathstroke was after all of them in the first place. Dick had to make it right.

He couldn’t even bear the thought of telling Bruce he’d gotten his little brother killed.

They needed to get Jason  _ back _ .

But they couldn’t turn over Rose either, no life was expendable; even if Slade didn’t want her dead, Dick couldn’t in good conscience send her back to a man who’d cut out her eye. Who she’d run from, causing a massive scene and taking out so many…

Dick’s breath caught.

She was Deathstroke’s daughter; she was an expert fighter. If she’d been trained then...it wouldn’t just be in fighting, but presumably in stealth, evasion… Had fear made her sloppy or…?

He considered the idea and the timing, the whole plan… Slade must know that they’d never hand Rose over, he knew them intimately, or thought he did anyway. 

Dick swallowed as he considered that the objective wasn’t to get Rose back, it was to kill Jason. To taunt them before taking him away and breaking them apart even more.

Rose could be passing along their movements. He hadn’t checked her stuff and if Slade had really sent her then she’d likely have some communication device disguised as something innocuous. Hell, maybe there was a radio in her eyehole.

Another realisation struck him. Dr Light had already known the other Titans were back, Slade had used him to lure them there, to take his revenge.

Dick closed his eyes and leant his head against the window. They couldn’t win by playing his game. Slade would have planned for a rescue attempt and Rose wasn’t likely to flip in time to be any help.

But maybe she was the key. Dick had to do something unpredictable. Slade might foresee Dick attempting to sacrifice himself, it was very him, but what if…?

By the time they pulled up, he had a plan. All he had to do was execute it and pray.

Rachel, Gar and Rose, and Kori!, were in the main room. Kori’s presence complicated things and Dick momentarily entertained the idea of her fire power giving a rescue attempt an edge. But she’d never agree to his crazy idea and would be harder to fool. He told the adults to go to the training room.

“I’ll be there in a sec. Can you catch Kori up?” 

Luckily no one seemed suspicious but Dick really didn’t have a lot of time. He went up to the kids.

“What’s going on?” Rachel asked.

“Go put on your suits.” Dick ordered, glad he’d commissioned them from Stu and the kids had been able to practise in them for a few days before Dr Light exploded back onto the scene.

Gar’s face lit up. “We’re getting him back?”

Despite the horrible weight on his shoulders, Dick still found a smile in him. “Yes. Quickly now.”

“Wait, what about the others?” Rachel asked. She was so sharp. Dick almost regretted making them study body language and interrogation techniques. Not that Rachel didn’t already have an advantage when it came to lie detecting.

“That depends on you.” He said to Rose.

All of them frowned in confusion. He explained. “What do you know of your father’s revenge plan?”

Rose looked between them all before shrugging. “Not a lot.”

Now he knew what to look for, Dick saw the half-truth. She likely didn’t know all of it through design.

“He’ll be expecting them.” Dick insisted. “He doesn’t know about Rachel and Gar.”

Rose made a ‘whatever’ face. 

Thank the Lord for Gar’s impatience. “Come on!” He said to Rachel.

Though still uncertain, Rachel went with him to their rooms.

“Am I going too?” Rose asked, sounding bored.

Looking over his shoulder to check no one had come back from the training room, Dick grabbed her arm.

“In here.” He walked her into the first bedroom, which happened to be Donna’s.

Rose’s shoulders went up and the air between them cooled as Dick closed the door.

Very aware of the group of sensible adults who’d beat him up very badly for what he was trying to do, Dick got straight to the point.

“I know you’re working with Slade. Do you think he’d take me and let Jason go?”

“What are you on?” She tried denying it, but he caught her glancing at the door.

Dick didn’t have time for that. He shifted back to stop himself from crowding her and pushing her into reacting.

“If he got close enough to take your eye out so cleanly, he could have killed you easily.”

“It was a lesson.” Rose snapped.

“The timing’s too convenient. Slade’s a meticulous planner and he likes mind games. There’s no point denying it. Now tell me, would he accept a trade? Me for Jason?”

Rose ran her eye over his face and for a moment, Dick thought of how young she was. How unfair it was that she was being put in this position.

Sensing she was going to try deflecting again, Dick took in a deep breath.

“It wasn’t Slade that killed your brother.”

Her eye widened, but it was exaggerated. No doubts left now. 

Well, he’d started. The words like glass in his throat, Dick went on. “I did. I killed Jericho. But you already knew that.”

Finally, she crossed her arms and snarled at him. “And you’ll pay.”

“Yes, I will. But Jason shouldn’t.”

He heard someone jogging down the corridor: tick, tick. 

“You want to keep the others out of it.” She said, sidestepping his implicit question. Her lip twisted slightly though. Dick felt a wave of relief: she didn’t want collateral. 

“Deathstroke murdered our friend and almost killed Donna. That’s how Jericho got on our radar in the first place. Whatever he told you wasn’t the whole truth.”

He heard Gar’s voice, calling to Rachel.

Shit.

In a rush he said. “Let it end with me. Take your revenge on me and let it all be done. Then you can move on with your life.” 

After an excruciating second, Rose nodded sharply. 

He led them out and collected Rachel and Gar. Both were buzzing with nerves and adrenaline. Dick hoped he wasn’t making a terrible mistake in bringing them. If the confrontation with Dr Light at the football stadium had been a feint to test them, then Slade wouldn’t expect Dick to use them. He couldn’t possibly have contingencies for their powers and though Gar could be vulnerable, Rachel was hard to subdue once her powers were fully activated.

They’d trained for hostage extraction before, they’d learned how to read each other and fight together and Jason’s life was in the balance.

Forcing himself not to take a final look around his home, he led them into the elevator.

... 

Rose’s head felt light, almost dizzy, as she processed the sharp turn her mission had taken. She’d been prepared for the long game, for watching, always watching, and waiting for her moment to tip the scales. Anticipating seeing the dominoes fall and the ‘heroes’ become jackals, the murderers, they were.

Dick Grayson had wiped all of that away and offered her a short cut. A death for a death. Less machievelan and more cut-throat but she wasn’t a fool - there was no way to complete her original mission.

Also, deep down, she didn’t really want to. Not anymore.  _ Not in the first place _ .

On the way down, Dick explained the outline of his plan. Rachel and Gar would find and rescue Jason whilst he and Rose distracted Slade. Dick would message the others to come as back-up and extraction if needed. 

Idiots. The boy was too excited and eager to save his friend to question the other Titan’s exclusion and the goth girl too wrapped up in her own problems. If Slade got hold of them he’d cut them in two without breaking a sweat. They’d fall so easily. Rose could picture it so clearly she could almost smell the blood. 

As the elevator opened up at the garage and Rachel and Gar dashed off to the van, Rose grabbed Grayson’s arm.

“Them?” She wasn’t really sure why she asked the question.

Grayson didn’t seem offended by the challenge; instead saying confidently. “They’re capable.”

“Slade could kill them with his pinky.”

“They’re not facing him.” 

“Might not have a choice.”

“I can make quite a compelling argument.” 

Her eye narrowed and she snapped, genuinely angry. “You’re lying; misleading me. Why would you tell me all this?” 

Grayson glanced at the direction of the van, where the others were out of sight but not necessarily hearing.

Then he said something very odd. “I don’t know a single thing about you, or what it’s like to be you.” 

In the beat he left silent, she tilted her head back. “Okay...” 

“But I do know what it’s like to want to prove myself to and escape someone at the same time. Hey, you still got that phone I gave you?”

As she took in his answer, she handed it over and Dick programmed another number into it.

“Since mine’s going to be useless soon.” He tried to joke. They both heard the strain in his voice. It was weird that he’d gone from practically begging her to help him trade himself to Deathstroke to gallows humor in five minutes. But hey, Slade had said the Titans were mad. 

She looked at the phone. Not really believing it even as she said. “Batman.”

Grayson nodded. “He knows a lot of people, has a lot of safehouses and he has a thing about wasted potential.”

She couldn’t think of anything to say. The moment he’d first given her the phone came back to her. Before he’d even known her identity, he’d respected what she’d said she’d wanted, even when it was clear he’d disagreed. And even as he’d been prepared to let her go, he’d given her a way to ask for help if she changed her mind.

Now he did know who she was, what her real intentions were and here was another number, another way to get help.

Gar came rushing around a parked car. “What’s the hold up?”

Grayson murmured to Rose. “Desperate times.”

Rose looked up at him but didn’t respond as they joined the others in the van.

The drive took forever and was also over too quickly. Suddenly, they were standing in front of the highrise that held both Jason and Slade.

Grayson spotted the window washer’s platform immediately. 

“Rachel, Gar, you’ll go to floor 49.” He pointed up. “Jason’s on that platform. Break the glass and get him down.”

He turned to the shapeshifter and handed him a lockpick. “Don’t use the tiger, it’s too heavy.”

“Got it. Snake or sparrow.” The boy nodded.

Part of Rose wanted to see that.

Grayson put a hand on the demon girl’s shoulder. “Remember all those trust exercises.”

The girl looked up at the platform nervously. “This is a little bit higher.”

“You can do it.” Grayson insisted, looking between the children. 

They nodded, confidence bolstered. 

“What’ll you do?” The boy asked.

“Kick some ass.” Rose answered, moving towards the side door that had been left propped open.

They all went in, walking through the building site shrouded in darkness. If Rose wasn’t paranoid the man was listening, she would comment that Slade could be a real thespian: with his long, poetic speeches and creepy locations. 

As they got in the elevator, Rose heard a buzzing. Grayson got out his phone, glanced at the caller ID and then rejected the call. Neither child noticed as he and Rose stood behind them.

Rose raised an eyebrow at him, but he ignored her.

The elevator stopped at the 49th floor. The children got out nervously, looking back for a reassuring nod from Grayson before moving into the office space. 

Gullible fools. 

The doors closed. It was just Rose and Grayson. There would only be a few seconds before they’d face her father. Rose’s stomach twisted.

Grayson shifted slightly.

“Got cold feet?” She challenged.

He looked down at her and she noted that he suddenly looked twice his age. She’d studied him, before her mission. She’d studied all of them: fight patterns, skill sets, power bases, previous injuries, the list went on. But Slade had cautioned her about the Titan’s leader. Even unenhanced, he was an exceptional fighter and had a powerful intellect. A classic manipulator, too. He could sing the birds from the trees. She would need to keep her wits about her lest she be taken in.

She realised that her father had been right. On all counts.

He’d killed Jericho.

He’d killed Jericho.

He’d  _ killed  _ her  _ brother _ .

The elevator slowed to a stop and he said. “Just regrets.”

The doors opened and he led the way out.


	2. The Exchange

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No torture in this chapter but allusions to past corporal punishment and threat of future torture. And Slade being a real creep.

The rescue party was almost an hour early, but Slade was already prepared. He’d received Grayson’s message accepting to hand Rose over and had sent back the updated location. Rose hadn’t sent anything; either because she was incapcitated or because she was being watched back at the Tower. Grayson was alone or with the original Titans. Either way, they couldn’t save the little bird or take Slade down.

The elevator dinged, Slade hadn’t even bothered to check the security feed to see who was inside, instead listening from the shadows. He recognised Grayson and Rose’s footsteps, both their heart rates elevated.

That was a deviation he hadn’t anticipated. He didn’t think that Grayson would actually ‘persuade’ Rose to accompany him. Unless...well, it had always been a possibility that the conman would figure out the ruse. Unlikely, but possible. 

Slade took out the detonator and held it in his palm. Rose had been useful in luring the leader out, even if the long game had to be abandoned. Slade was nothing if not adaptable.

He watched as the pair reached the window. Grayson was holding his hands up and Rose was pushing him to his knees.

“This piece of scum has something he wants to say to you.” She called out, before looking down. “Hands behind your head.”

Grayson complied and wisely kept his mouth shut. As Rose stood back, Slade shot off a few bullets just above the man’s head and watched him flinch but not whip out any weapons or act defensively.

A genuine offer then. One of the scenarios Slade had planned for. He couldn’t wait to watch Grayson’s face as he killed Robin. 

_ No! _

Slade flinched and forced Jericho back as he walked into view.

“Mr Grayson, finally cottoned on, have you? I was beginning to think I overestimated you.”

“Let Jason go. I’m the one you really want.”

“So rude. Did no one ever teach you manners?”

Grayson was unamused but Rose kicked him in the stomach before he could answer.

“New plan.” She said to Slade. “We take out their leader and let them break and scatter like the cowards they are.”

He was impressed by the venom in her voice but oh, his dear, simple daughter, she did lack a certain complexity in her ideas. Also, it appeared only a few days of Grayson’s influence had worsened her rebellious streak.

In response, Slade merely looked at her and she sensed her mistake, ducking her head.

Grayson spoke in the silence. “You’ve hurt Jason enough, he’s not part of this-”

“You involved him when you started your little boy scout chapter up again. And I barely touched him.”

Slade took down the sheet, revealing Robin on the platform. The boy saw Grayson and stiffened, going still when he’d evidently been struggling against his bonds.

Grayson shifted on his knees and his upper arms flexed, as if he wanted to reach out.

_ Stop this! _

Luckily Jericho was too weak for his outburst to show on Slade’s face and anyway, Grayson was too distracted by the helpless Robin. He was mouthing something.

‘It’s not your fault.’ Slade recognised the words.

_ It’s no one’s fault but yours. _

Before Slade could even react to the foreign thought, a blast rocked them. Slade frowned, it had come from underneath them.

Had the others separated and used explosives to blow out the windows on the floor below? Slade half-growled, furious that Rose had not told him.

“It’s just the children: animal boy and demon girl.” Rose explained quickly, her eye wide as she looked at Slade. “They’re not important, we have him.” She grabbed Grayson’s hair and pulled his head back a little.

Grayson grimaced but let her.

For a moment, Slade considered the facts. 

Grayson had figured out Rose’s role in Slade’s plan. He’d said something to Rose to convince her to drop her act, probably revealed what he knew, and offered himself in exchange. 

Although unconfirmed, the vibrating of what sounded like a phone in Grayson’s pocket suggested he’d left the other Titans out and instead taken the new, gullible members to rescue Robin. 

Rose hadn’t informed him of Grayson’s plan.

Grayson was unarmed and hadn’t sprung into action once the rescue began. 

Conclusion: Grayson’s offer was real and the children were his contingency plan, as he’d likely predicted Slade wouldn’t accept it. And Rose had agreed.

As he reached this conclusion, a black, smoke-like tendril began wrapping around Robin.

Deciding to retreat and observe for another opportunity. Slade nodded shortly and threw a syringe full of tranquilizers to Rose. 

He watched her catch and administer it to Grayson’s neck without hesitation. Slade pressed the detonator. The glass blew and Robin vanished from sight.

Slade’s ears rang for a moment and then he heard- 

“No!” Grayson moaned, falling forward, already weak and clumsy from the tranq. 

Slade had made sure the dose was relatively small, definitely not enough to kill someone of Grayson’s body mass, so he stalked over and handed Rose a zip tie, securing Grayson’s hands himself. Together he and his daughter made quick work of securing the sociopath and Slade flung him over his shoulder.

“Jas’n.” The man mumbled before going limp. 

“I’ll deal with you later.” Slade warned Rose, satisfied at the fear on her face. Then he led them out and to the truck waiting downstairs. There was more work to do.

...

Jason was furious. 

Whilst grateful for the green bird bringing him a lockpick and the creepy demon powers dragging him to safety, none of that stopped Dick from being abducted. What a massive tool, how dare Dick just decide to do things like that? What the Hell was his problem?

He and the others had raced up the steps to the next floor but of course Slade and Dick were gone. And Rose. That was another betrayal Jason would have to save for later to be apoplectic about. 

They’d run down to the garage but again, no sign of anyone. They only found Dick’s phone, smashed on the ground beside a bloodied tracker. Kicking the phone was useless but had released a little pressure from the powderkeg in Jason’s head. 

Gar saying something stupid about not realising Dick’s plan was just the spark that unleashed Jason’s full fury.

“What did you think he was going to do?”

Gar looked distraught. “We didn’t know he’d do  _ that _ !”

“Of fucking course he was going to martyr himself! That’s his MO!” Jason yelled, voice cracking slightly.

“We were more worried about you!” Rachel cried.

Jason scoffed as his stomach churned. “You shouldn’t have. I was fine.”

Rachel shook her head in disbelief but was distracted by her phone ringing. She answered it and began immediately updating whoever was on the line.

“What are they going to do to him?” Gar asked, one hand clasping his other arm.

“What do you think?” Jason snarled.

Gar flinched, expression twisted; it reminded Jason of a baby. He snorted and headed out of the garage. If he could find a fast car, maybe he could catch up somehow. 

“Where are you going?” Rachel called after him. 

He ignored her, blood pumping in his ears. Once out on the street, he fumed that it had to be the business district: no cars parked in the open. 

“They’re almost here.” Rachel said as she and Gar caught up with him. 

Cursing, Jason looked around wildly and caught sight of the ruined platform. His breath caught as the fear and sensation of falling flashed through his brain.

_ Focus. What’s your next move? _

Bruce’s voice pulled him out of the spiral. 

Jason swallowed and to his great shame, his eyes began to burn. He couldn’t tell Bruce that he’d gotten his older brother killed.

He just couldn’t.

Hank’s truck screeched up and Robin squared his shoulders.

They’d get Dick back and Slade would pay.

...

Rose didn’t recognise the safehouse they pulled into, but then she hadn’t expected to. It was as well-hidden as all of the others, the garage entrance hidden in a copse of trees and the majority of the building was underground. As she took in the grey walls and concrete floors, her gut churned.

One thing she hadn’t anticipated was Slade questioning her loyalty to him and she was kicking herself. Of course he’d be pissed she didn’t update him and not impressed by her agreeing to an alternate plan. She was trying not to go into a panic attack thinking about what he might do to her.

In only a few days she’d half-forgotten what it was like being under his thumb, all dissent quashed and rebellion beaten out. Although stressful in terms of the constant vigilance against supposed psychos, her time in Titan’s Tower had also not been completely terrible. 

She thought about Grayson’s gentle hands as he changed her bandage, the demon girl talking to her like another person and not an enemy; the boys being surprisingly normal - read childish and annoying - for brainwashed heroes.

Now all her training came back full force and she trembled to imagine what punishment would be meted out for her presumption.

Slade dumped Grayson onto the floor, not caring that the man fell face-first. Inwardly, Rose winced, but she didn’t say anything. Fortunately for Grayson, he still seemed too out of it to register much pain. 

He would later though.

They were in what looked like an interrogation cell: implements on the walls, a medical tray and various restraints all forced her back up straight.

_ It’s not for you, it’s not for you _ , she tried to tell her racing heart. 

Slade looked at her, evidently hearing her rising panic. He took off his helmet and his lips twitched into a small smile.

“You did well.” 

Rose swallowed, not sure how to react.

Putting a foot on the wound on Grayson’s leg from where he’d cut out the tracker, her father looked down at him with disdain. Then he glanced at Rose.

“It was always a possibility that he might figure out our plan. You played him so beautifully, using his guilt against him to bring him to me alone.”

All of Rose’s body felt like it was under a low electric current. Was this a test?

That wasn’t what had happened at all. Had Slade realised that and was seeing how honest she’d be? Did he think she’d flipped and was part of a Titan’s plan to get back at Slade?

But if he was assuming this had been due to her influence, would denying it and telling the truth lower her in his estimation? Would she be punished for being so impulsive and easily manipulated? After all, this _was_ _the outcome Grayson had wanted_.

Feeling the phone Grayson had given her in her jeans pocket, she came to a decision. Snorting, she pulled it out. “He was still trying to save me, even when he knew I was working with you.”

Slade looked down at it as she pulled up Batman’s number. He laughed and put more pressure on the wound, making Grayson whine.

“Sentimental fool. You are so pathetic. As if any of your Titan friends could help themselves, let alone my daughter.”

He held out his hand to Rose. “You won’t be needing that.”

Rose reluctantly handed the phone over and watched as Slade pocketed it. She prayed he’d never find out she’d changed the contact name to ‘Wonder Girl’ on the way to the safehouse.

Finally pulling his foot off Grayson’s slumped form, Slade waved a hand at the wall of torture instruments.

“As your reward, you can have your turn with him. Anything you like.”

Rose blinked, her mouth going dry. She just wanted to curl up under some covers and wake up back at her mom’s house. What she wouldn’t give to go  _ home _ . 

“Just don’t take off any limbs.”

Jumping on anything to prolong the moment before she’d have to either torture someone or think of a good enough of a reason not to, Rose asked.

“Why? What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to lock him in a cell by himself until he loses his mind.”

Rose had to hold back a shiver at how matter-of-fact her father had sounded. 

Outwardly she scoffed. “That’s it?”

Slade just grinned. “It’s his greatest fear: being alone.”

Rose looked down at Grayson, trying to keep her face blank.

Slade crouched down, voice a creepy sing-song as he leaned close to Grayson’s ear. “And it’ll be made even worse by the knowledge that I’ll be free to hunt down and kill each and every one of his little friends.”

Grayson twitched against his bonds and moaned. “No, dun hur’em…”

Slade just laughed and Rose wanted to vomit.

“So,” Slade straightened, “what’ll it be?”

Rose lifted her chin. “Nothing until he burns through the sedatives. I want him to feel everything I do to him.”

Slade regarded her a long moment before inclining his head. “Until the morning then.”

Wintergreen appeared from nowhere to show her to her sleeping quarters and Rose forced herself not to look back or show how terrified she was.

In the cramped, utilitarian en suite she slapped her face with water and looked at herself in the mirror. Her eye watered but she blinked fiercely. She hadn’t cried in almost three years and she wasn’t about to start.

The same determination which had kept her going through gruelling and cruel training flared up now. Just because it seemed like an impossible situation didn’t mean that it actually was. All she had to do was put her mind to the task and figure something out.

Slade and Grayson weren’t the only ones who could plan. Rose was done being a pawn.

Now she was going to become a player.


	3. The Revelation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter contains a torture scene, the level is inline with canon but if you want to skip it, it's sandwiched between stars, ***, the next line after that section being: 'Rose flinched,'.
> 
> Also, I was wondering if anyone could help me with something in the next chapter. I want Kori to call Dick using an endearment that's unique to them. I can't remember her referring to him as anything other than his name or think of anything of their shared experience to use as a playful nickname. Can any of you think of anything?

No one slept in the Tower that night, not even Jason, who was visibly exhausted from his ordeal. He was one of the most active, pacing the computer room with his hair still wet from a lightning quick shower to get the dirt and blood off him. Donna had been irritated at first but as the hours went by, her general anger had fizzled into the bitter taste of fear.

Leaving Gar, Kori and Jason to handle the search, Donna left for more coffee in the kitchen. She didn’t see the walls or feel the warmth of the heat through the vents, just moving blindly, her mind quiet. Hank and Dawn were at the kitchen island, talking in low voices. They hesitated when she came into sight, expressions relaxing into a grim solidarity.

It wasn’t like none of them had ever been abducted before, during their time as Titans; it was rare but it had happened on occasion. It was always nerve-wracking and horrible but Dick had always been with them sleuthing until he had a lead and they rushed to save their friend. Dick was the planner, the researcher, the one who knew things. Without him...

Dick had never been taken before and Donna had never missed his steady presence so much.

She accepted a cup of coffee from Hank and half-smiled at Dawn rubbing her arm.

“We were discussing what we were going to do when he gets back.” Hank said, eyes tired. “I vote for tying him to a chair and never letting him up again.”

Donna took a sip in lieu of thinking of a response.

Dawn gave a wet laugh. “He’d work his way free. Do you remember that escape competition he made us do? See which one of us could get out of the ropes the fastest?”

Hank chuckled. “Oh yeah! That was when Wally was over. He was the judge, right?”

Dawn nodded, smiling a little wider. “I came second, if I remember correctly.”

Hank cocked his head doubtfully before dodging Dawn’s elbow.

“Garth lost.” Donna added. “He thought he could soak the ropes to make them softer and just burst through them.”

Dawn giggled. “But Dick had gotten super-strength fibre rope and the water just made the knots impossible to pick!”

They all laughed softly.

“God, I wish he was here.” Donna blurted. She had to look away from Dawn’s sympathetic expression so she turned and leant against the island.

“He’s strong.” Dawn said.

“Yeah,” Hank said, “if anyone can survive Deathstroke-”

“Garth didn’t.” Donna bit out and then cursed her lack of control. Turning, she put down her cup and leant on her palms. She took in long breaths, focusing on the sensation of her anger smoothing like big, beach waves levelling out at the centre of the ocean.

Once she’d recovered her composure, she confessed. “I should have known.”

Dawn sighed. “Donna, don’t do that to yourself.”

“No, I know what he’s like. Of course he’d choose to throw himself on his sword, offer himself up as a willing sacrifice.”

There was a sad, frustrated silence.

“What I can’t understand is why he took Rose with him.” Hank said finally. “If he wanted to save her too.”

Donna frowned, unsure why she hadn’t considered that question before. Straightening, she put her mind to the puzzle. They knew from Jason that Rose had been working with Slade, or at least, felt pressured enough to inject Dick with something and supposedly leave without putting up a fight. It wasn’t clear which was the case, and still, in neither scenario did it make sense for Dick to take her with him.

_Dick, what was going through that head of yours?_

Donna looked up from the counter and across the room. So many memories, so much joy and pain and history in this room alone. She thought about when they’d last been there, when Jericho was being shown around and bouncing up and down with excitement. How Dick had explained about Jericho’s powers and how he wanted to help him despite...huh.

Maybe Dick _was_ trying to save Rose.

Donna pushed herself off her palms and strode away.

“Where are you going?” Hank called after her.

“To watch the tapes.”

Hank and Dawn followed and, commandeering one of the screens from a frustrated Kori, Donna pulled up the footage from the main room from just before Dick and the others left.

They watched Dick take Rose into Donna’s room, goddammit Dick, and come out a few minutes later, accompanying the kids down to the garage. 

“What I wouldn’t give to have heard that conversation.” Hank muttered.

Whilst glad there wasn’t any recording equipment in their rooms, Donna acknowledged it would have been handy just then.

With the footage from down in the garage, however, they could listen to what Dick and Rose had said.

“What’s he doing?” Hank demanded as Dick handed back the phone on the screen.

“Giving her a lifeline.” Kori replied, eyes fixed on the interaction.

“Why?” Gar asked. 

Donna glanced over at him, surprised by the belligerent tone. She saw him slumped in his seat, arms crossed and recognised hate in his eyes. So he blamed Rose as much as Jason did.

“ _Batman_.” Rose said on the tape.

“He gave Bruce’s number to that snake?” Jason said, arms flying up.

Donna squinted at the screen, it was the camera diagonally across from Dick, but she could only see the top of his head as he looked down at Rose. The girl’s back was completely to the camera. She toggled to the opposite camera and paused it as Rose looked up at Dick.

Then she enhanced the picture as far as it could go without becoming blurry. She studied the girl’s face, because then she understood what Dick saw, a girl.

“Doesn’t look like a snake to me.” Kori commented.

“She’s a scared child.” Dawn added, hugging herself.

“Working for Deathstroke! “ Hank and Jason protested at the same time.

Part of Donna knew she might be seeing what she wanted to see, but she trusted Dick’s instincts.

“She doesn’t want to.” She said.

“Maybe she will call Batman.” Gar suggested, sitting up a little.

“Maybe we should.”

Donna turned to look at Jason. His jaw was set, shoulders back and stiff. Suddenly, in her mind’s eye she saw a thirteen-year old Dick.

“Do it.” She ordered and Jason nodded.

Feeling exhausted, Donna went up to the roof. She and Dick had gone up there sometimes after patrol when they’d been too wired to sleep. They’d gossip and compare notes on how things had gone and make plans. Ignoring their usual spot facing the ocean, Donna walked to the other side.

As the sun rose, Donna looked out over the city and thought. 

_Hold on, Boy Wonder. We’re coming._

...

Before meeting her father, Rose wasn’t an early riser. After, she woke up just before or during the sunrise. Every, damn, day. That particular morning she didn’t really notice because she’d hardly slept, only dropping off for short naps before snapping awake and running over and over what she knew and possible plans to escape.

Her main dilemma was whether to take Grayson with her or not. She had no doubt the Titans would come for him and Slade wouldn’t kill him before they did. Rose wasn’t responsible for him, he was a grown adult who’d purposefully chosen to be in this exact situation. He definitely would not expect her to rescue him; he might even be angry or upset if she tried.

She could lift the keys for one of the vehicles, bypass the security on the garage doors and speed away before Slade or Wintergreen realized she was gone from her room.

And yet, that plan made her feel queasy. She couldn’t stop thinking that the Titans might fail to rescue him. She couldn’t stop seeing Grayson’s crumpled form on the floor, imagining him locked away in the dark to slowly go crazy; talking to the walls and growing gaunt and lifeless.

Would it be her fault if that happened?

By the time she got up, it was too late to escape so she decided to wait until the night. One more day to see if she could safely get them both away. That meant she might have to...she’d cross that bridge when she came to it.

Wintergreen had made coffee and talked to her as she forced herself to eat some Deathstroke-approved cereal. Rose had only met the man a few times before but she hadn’t been very talkative during those encounters, so he didn’t take offense at her monosyllabic answers. He mentioned he was going back to the city in a few hours. Damn, that would only leave one vehicle in the garage. Rose knew how to hotwire, maybe that would be safer than trying to steal her father’s key to it.

When she was done eating he said. “Your father’s in the interrogation room. Getting an early start I think.”

Taking the hint, she moved her leaden legs out of the kitchen and down the hall. The interrogation room wasn’t soundproof so she heard the pained grunts before she entered the room. Swallowing, she took in the scene.

***

Grayson was strung up by his wrists in the centre of the room, body pulled taut as his toes barely touched the floor, ankles tied together. He was bare-foot and stripped to his waist so Rose could see the muscles in his back bunching and flexing as he twisted. Slade was in the Deathstroke suit sans helmet and he was prowling around Grayson, electrified baton in hand.

“You’re up.” Slade said to Rose as he hit Grayson across the belly.

Rose hid her wince as the captive’s body twitched and he muffled a cry.

“Just warming him up for you, my dear.” Slade explained. He turned off the baton and retracted it, walking over to the table to put it back.

Rose reluctantly walked a bit further into the room, but not far enough to be able to see Grayson’s face. He was slumped in relief, though now closer, she could see the minute trembling in his frame that came after being shocked. 

“Have you decided how to repay this con man for killing your brother?”

 _No_ , Rose thought as she tried to keep her face blank.

“I think you’re right about the isolation: no physical pain could compare to that.”

Slade tilted his head, approval in his eyes. Rose swallowed down bile.

“True, very true.” Her father said whilst walking over to the wall displaying the whips. 

Rose’s stomach sank even before he continued speaking.

“Still, we can speed things up. And I never finished teaching you interrogation techniques.”

Rose had tried to forget the “basic” course Deathstroke had deemed necessary to teach her, though thankfully it had all been theoretical: where the arteries were so as to avoid killing someone too fast, how to break bones and bruise for maximum pain and minimum damage.

“We don’t need to know anything.” She tried.

“Oh, there must be one or two things. How about the codes to the Tower’s security systems?”

“They’ll have changed them.” Grayson answered immediately. He’d fully recovered from the tranqs and though slightly breathless from the shock baton, sounded confident.

Slade chuckled. “I think we both know how likely it is those reckless idiots will remember protocol. And even if they are no longer in use, there can be patterns to be found in the codes people choose.”

Grayson remained silent, though he grabbed the rope around his wrists, grip knuckle-white.

“Come.” Slade beckoned Rose over to the wall and began explaining the different pros and cons of each whip and flogger.

As she listened, Rose was hyper aware of Grayson hanging just behind her and her anxiety spiked, as well as her hatred for Slade. This was part of the torture: building the anticipation, the clinical tone, the instructive, unrelenting nature of it all. 

Finally, Slade came to the end of his lecture and it was Rose’s moment.

“We don’t want to break the skin and risk an infection.” She reached out for a heavy flogger, keeping Slade in the corner of her eye. 

He just nodded though. “A good one to start with.”

She picked the flogger up; it felt heavy in her hands, the dark leather strands deceptively smooth. She made a few test swings into the open air, to get a feel for it...and delay the inevitable.

“Let’s start with the code for the garage entrance.” Slade said, strolling around to stand in front of Grayson.

Rose swallowed. She wasn’t ready. But she had to be.

Squaring her shoulders and planting her feet, she swung the flogger against his back at half-strength. Grayson flinched but didn’t make a sound. 

Slade crossed his arms. “Harder than that. We can’t be here all day.”

Narrowing her eyes, trying to pretend she was just practising with a dummy, she swung again. This time he grunted, body swaying forward from the force of the blow.

Slade didn’t comment, so Rose did the same again and again and again; until she was panting and Grayson’s back was beginning to bruise. Waving a hand at her to pause, Slade stepped up and grabbed Grayson’s chin.

“You’re being quiet today. Usually I can’t get you to shut up.”

Grayson stayed silent.

Slade scrutinised him another moment before beckoning Rose over. She went reluctantly; fighting the urge to wrinkle her nose as the smell of blood wafted up. The bandage on his leg must be leaking. She didn’t look.

Slade pointed at Grayson’s face. “Impressive technique.”

Rose looked up and after a moment, saw what Slade was referring to; Grayson’s eyes were unfocused, his mind likely far away. She averted her eyes quickly, not wanting the expression held in her memory; she already wished she could forget his cries of pain. 

“How do you break someone out of it?” Slade asked.

Rose thought back. “You change intensity or method.”

“Or…” Slade encouraged.

Rose’s jaw clenched as she realized she didn’t remember. Thankfully, Slade seemed to be in a forgiving mood, that or he was too focused on torturing Grayson. 

He wrapped his hand around Grayson’s throat. “You use their survival instinct.”

But then he released it and took a jerky step back. Rose blinked, unused to seeing anything other than dangerous grace from the man.

“You do it.” Slade bit out.

Transferring the flogger to her left hand automatically, Rose forced herself to walk up to Grayson’s slack and bloodied face. Brain reminding her of Slade’s many, many punishment methods, she didn’t allow herself to hesitate.

She had to reach up and her fingers only closed around the front part of his neck, but it was enough to cut off airflow. Eyes trained on his windpipe and ignoring the heat under her palm, she squeezed. 

At first, nothing happened. Then he jerked involuntarily and his mouth opened, trying to pull in air. Rose squeezed harder, ignoring the almost-but-not-quite silent gasps and pushing down the sense-memories of Slade doing that to _her_.

Her eye burned and her throat burned and everything was burni-

“Enough.”

Rose snatched her hand away, stepping back and turning her face to the side. Grayson gulped in desperate breaths, curled over hacking and coughing helplessly. Rose blinked hard, forcing an unruly tear back.

“You didn’t think we’d make this easy, did you?” Slade taunted.

“A man can dream.” Grayson rasped.

“Choose your next one.” Slade ordered. 

Composed again, Rose went back to the wall. Hand shaking ever so slightly, she replaced the flogger.

Behind her, Grayson muttered something and Slade snorted.

“Still trying to be the ‘saviour’. Pathetic. She’s _my_ daughter and she’ll do what she’s told.”

Hearing footsteps, Rose panicked and grabbed a whip at random. Slade reached past her though, took the single-tail whip off the wall and walked around to Grayson’s front.

“Enough playing around. Rose, watch how it’s done.”

He slashed the whip, leaving a razor-thin cut across Grayson’s chest. Grayson screamed.

***

Rose flinched, feeling the sound echoing into her soul, and Slade dropped the whip. Startled, Rose turned her head and saw her father’s expression. He looked...regretful?

“I’m sorry.” He said, voice slightly choked like he was struggling to talk.

Rose frowned. Grayson was still recovering, not noticing the change until Slade spoke again.

“Dick, are you okay?”

Grayson’s head shot up, eyes wide. He looked over Slade’s face for a long moment before he wheezed. “Jericho?”

Rose’s head buzzed. Slade had told her about her brother’s powers but she hadn’t even thought it possible…Was it…? What?

“I can’t hold him...you have to run!” Slade, no Jericho, said as Slade’s arms twitched at his sides.

“Hold on. We’ll get you out.” Grayson said, despite really not being in a position to promise anything.

Rose looked between them, unable to think of what to do.

Too late. 

Slade took back control. And he was pissed.

He backhanded Grayson across the face, hard. So hard Rose thought she heard something pop. He drew out his katana and for a terrible moment, Rose thought he was going to kill Grayson right there. She stepped forward reflexively before seeing Slade angle it upwards to cut the rope securing Grayson to the ceiling. 

The captive fell with a pained gasp, quickly followed by a yelp as Deathstroke grabbed him by the hair and dragged him out of the room. 

Hesitating for a moment, Rose felt her heart thumping in her chest and tasted iron at the back of her throat. It had all happened so fast. 

Shaking herself, she ran to catch up and followed at a distance. She heard Grayson trying to talk to Jericho, but if he did hear, he didn’t respond. At the cell, Deathstroke more or less flung Grayson in, so much so the man rolled a few times before coming to a stop.

Rose’s father turned to her. “You do not go in here for any reason. Do you understand?”

Rose nodded quickly.

With one last look of hatred, Slade slammed the door shut and bolted it. Then he stepped into Rose’s space and loomed over her. “No questions. About anything.”

“No questions.” She agreed.

Slade held her gaze for a long moment before stepping back. “Resume your endurance training.” 

Then he stalked away.

When the sound of his footsteps had faded, Rose let out a long, shaky breath. Through the heavy door she couldn’t actually hear Grayson, but her mind had no trouble imagining him writhing in pain and moaning weakly, maybe still calling out for her brother.

_How long would he last?_

Turning on her heel she couldn’t help but wonder.

_How long will I last?_

…

Rachel sat rock-still as Gar freaked out beside her. Despite the seriousness of the situation, and their shared guilt of letting Dick go sacrifice himself, he was still excited. He kept mouthing ‘it’s Batman’ in Rachel’s general direction and shuffling a little in his seat.

Part of her was glad he was finding some joy, another part urged her to burn down the city and yet a third part desperately wanted Dick to be there so she could fall into his arms and cry. None of her was excited about hearing Batman’s voice over the phone.

Some hero; couldn’t even fly over when his own son was missing, possibly being killed as they spoke.

_No, don’t think like that._

Deathstroke, Rose and Dick had been missing for almost two days and tensions were at an all-time high. After the adults had finished feeling angry and betrayed by Dick’s move, they’d rallied: scouring the city cameras for signs, investigating Deathstroke’s aliases for properties, finances, anything that could tell them where Dick was. 

Batman and ‘his team’ were also working on that and the ‘children’, i.e. her, Gar and Jason, had been told not to leave the Tower under any circumstances.

“In fact, you should probably all stay in your rooms.” Hank had growled before Dawn’d pulled him away to calm down.

If Rachel knew where Dick was, she would have left in a heartbeat, with or without anyone else to help. But she didn’t. So she was sitting in the computer room as Batman rumbled on about something, Jason interpreted some of the technical language and Gar slowly lost his mind.

Against her will, her brain played back the last time she’d seen Dick: how he’d reassured her, said he believed in her and Gar… God, how could she have been so stupid?

Now, the sadness in his eyes was obvious, the downward tilt of his mouth, the tension in his whole frame. All the signs were there.

Rachel had been too caught up in worrying about her new powers going crazy and hurting someone, or letting Jason fall. She’d let him down. If only she’d gotten more in control of her powers before or told him so he could help her, she wouldn’t have been distracted. If only, if only... 

Her attention was drawn back into the room by Jason pounding his fist on the desk. Kori shot him a look but otherwise didn’t react, still mostly talking to Batman. Gar flinched a little, his expression losing its previous shine. 

Rachel grit her jaw. She needed to go out and do something, yell at someone or break something or run until she threw up.

Most of all, she needed Dick alive and safe and _there with her_.

Closing her eyes, she let the sounds around her fade into the background and reached out with her mind, searching for Dick's essence. But all she found was her memories of him. She felt Gar's hand on her arm and blindly lent her head against his shoulder.

_Dick, where are you?_


	4. The Decisions

It was two days before Rose found the opportunity to sneak in and see Dick. Wintergreen was still gone and Slade had left to walk the perimeter. Rose had gone into the computer room and put the cameras in the cell and in the corridor on a loop. Racing over, she started a mental countdown of how long until Slade returned. Then she gingerly pulled back the bolt on the cell and slipped inside.

Dick was curled up on his side, arms and legs pulled in, head pillowed on arm. Slade must have gone in previously because Dick was down to his boxers, the bandage on his leg fresh and a dressing on his chest.

He stirred when the door screeched, looking up at her with bleary eyes.

“I don’t have long.” She said preemptively, crouching down and holding out a bottle of water. After a minute hesitation, he took it and stiffly pushed himself to sitting.

“Tell me what you know about my brother.”

Dick took a sip before responding. “He was good. Funny. Kind to everyone he met.” He huffed a small laugh. “Well, those that deserved it.”

Rose listened as Dick told her how he’d manufactured their meeting, how Jericho had fit right in the group and how, when they’d come clean about their deception, her brother had decided to fight his father. To bring him to justice.

Rose’s internal clock told her she didn’t have long so she interrupted. “Any idea how to get him out of Slade’s head?” 

Dick shook his head tiredly. “I didn’t even know he could stay in someone else without his body to go back to.”

 _Great._ Rose stood up from her crouch, taking the empty bottle of water back. 

“Maybe Rachel could help.” Dick said. “She has some telepathic abilities.”

Rose looked down at him. “Slade took the phone you gave me.”

Dick sighed and rubbed a hand over his face.

Rose’s mind screaming at her to leave, she walked to the door and then turned to look at him. “I’ll try to come back.”

“Don’t. Finding a way to contact the others is the best thing you can do.”

They locked eyes and she was relieved to see determination in his. She nodded and left.

If Slade noticed what she’d done, he didn’t mention it. Although Rose was almost sure he would have punished her if he knew, there was still that sliver of doubt; that voice in the back of her head that reminded her how Slade liked to watch people dance. If he could hold back the information until later for better effect, he would.

Wintergreen returned that evening and Rose knew she couldn’t risk trying to see Dick again. Good thing she hadn’t promised and that he wasn’t expecting her to. No, instead she focused her plans on locating the phone and retrieving it. 

She’d never met Jericho, had no ties or responsibility or even much feeling towards him. But he’d been stuck inside Slade’s head for years and she couldn’t contemplate what Hell that must be like. 

She was going to help her brother, whatever it took.

...

The first hope the group had was a message from Batman about Wintergreen, Deathstroke’s handler. Apparently he’d been seen in Portland the day before and had driven out of the city. The cameras had lost him on one of the highways heading south. Batman theorised that Deathstroke had a safehouse somewhere in the forests.

It was the best lead they had, even though Batman warned it could be a trap. Donna took charge of the group, having the most experience in teams and with leading them.

She briefed everyone and went through the pros and cons of going together for recon.

“What do you mean ‘if we go’?” Hank demanded.

“One, there’s a huge area to cover and the minute any of us leave the Tower, we could be tracked and ambushed. Two, even if we find Slade’s lair before he finds us, he will be prepared for intruders. There could be any number of traps that could blow up in our face and get someone killed.”

“We already know he has a supply of explosives.” Kori said.

“So we’ll be careful!” Jason cried, bouncing up and down, arms swinging.

“We need to do recon first, stealthily.” Donna insisted.

“But they could be doing anything to him!” Rachel protested.

Donna opened her mouth but Gar beat her to it.

“Rachel, remember the Asylum?”

Everyone turned to look at him. He shuffled awkwardly, before saying. “We ran in before checking it out and we all got captured. Let’s not make the same mistake again. Dick’s strong, he can wait until we have a good plan.”

“Gar’s right.” Kori said. “I know we’re all worried but Deathstroke didn’t kill Dick when he had the chance and it sounds like he’s been planning this for a long time. We have to be smart about this.”

“Who the Hell are you anyway?” Hank asked.

“I’m the woman with the power of the sun who’s going to save Dick by not dying in some boobytrap before getting inside the building.” Kori snapped back, raising some eyebrows and quirking Donna’s lip slightly.

Hank scowled but didn’t reply and there was a short pause.

“I think it’s decided.” Dawn said.

There was some grumbling but no one contradicted her. 

Donna nodded. “Alright, let’s get to work.”

…

He thought it was Day Four, but without windows or regular meals, time had slipped away from him. Oh, and the concussion hadn’t helped. All Dick knew was that he was starting to hear voices.

Huh, it usually took longer for them to show up. Maybe it was because of how weakened he already was: exhausted through lack of sleep the days leading up to his surrender and beaten down both physically and emotionally. It could also have been the terrifyingly fresh memories from the Asylum haunting him.

His own teenage voice had joined the usual chorus of taunting villains, victims he couldn't save and Bruce’s many, many criticisms. Repeated exposure to experimental chemicals from the likes of Scarecrow and the Joker during his adolescence had done a number on his brain. 

Most of the time he managed to keep himself too occupied for the latent trauma to have a chance at manifesting. The nightmares came no matter what he did, so he’d developed methods to calm himself down and fall back to sleep; luckily he never made much noise so no one seemed to have noticed.

Sometimes though, his mood dropped so much that his demons began to whisper to him, long-dead faces appeared in the mirror and if he left it too long, began talking to him. It was always worse when he was alone without anyone to focus on. 

He had some anti-psychotic meds stashed away for those rainy days though, and it had been years since he’d had a serious episode. 

Shifting to a seated position, he picked up some of the stale bread from the day(?) before and forced himself to eat some more of it. Although he wanted to sleep for a few years or so, Rose and Jericho might need his help so he had to keep his strength up. Plus he should move every now and again to stop his limbs from going numb. Thankfully it wasn’t too cold despite his distinct lack of clothing. 

Focusing on his physical pain and discomfort distracted him from the voices, and the gnawing worry over if Jason had been saved, so he cataloged his injuries. His jaw still ached even after he’d forced it back in place and the cut on his leg throbbed but seemed to be healing. He didn’t dare remove the bandage, not knowing if Slade would come back to replace it.

He couldn’t lie on his back and put pressure on the bruises there, nor lie on his front because of the slash across his chest; both sets of injuries were handicaps in a fight, but for spending the endless hours alone in a cell, they were more annoying than anything else.

Not sleeping much anyway, Dick counted his blessings that at least both shoulders were undamaged and could be rested on.

He’d assumed he’d been given a concussion due to dizziness and nausea when he’d first been thrown in the cell, but that could have been caused by other things like stress and shock.

Another thing to be grateful for was that his nose hadn’t been broken by him falling onto it the first night. 

_Haha, not to worry, you still have your looks._

Dick swallowed and closed his eyes. He hadn’t expected Kori’s voice. His heart sank and he curled back into a tight ball. He didn’t want to know what horrible things she’d say to him, how she’d try to cut him up into tiny pieces.

_Why would I do that? I like you. I thought we’d established that._

God, it was almost like she was in the room with him.

“Kori.” He whispered.

_Yeah, I’m here. Don’t act so surprised._

He smiled and wanted to tell her how glad he was to hear her, how much he wanted to be with her for real. Despite him not having the words, mind-Kori, of course, knew how he felt.

_Me too, Dick Grayson. Me too._

With Kori’s honeyed voice in his ear, Dick drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm not entirely happy with mind-Kori's dialogue at the end, if you can think of a better endearment for Dick (that's personal for them) then let me know!  
> :D


	5. The Rescues

If being a tiger with all its urges was challenging, dealing with the short attention span of birds was a nightmare. Gar flew over a sea of trees, riding the warm air current and forcing his eyes to look between the trees for any signs of activity. It would have been a lot easier if he hadn’t become distracted every five minutes.

The team had narrowed the search area by cross referencing listed buildings and who owned them. The prevailing theory was that Slade had built a secret bunker or something off the books so as to be even less findable. Whilst others back at the Tower trawled through data to find any information on contractors working in the middle of nowhere, Gar was searching between the well-worn paths through the closest forest to where Wintergreen disappeared, looking for dirt roads that lead to nowhere and other clues.

Gar was unbelievably thankful for something to do. The novelty of hearing Batman talk had worn off quickly and the exhausting worry about Dick had returned full force. 

As much as Gar tried to comfort Rachel that they couldn’t have foreseen Dick’s ruse, he still felt guilty and terrified of what could happen. Mixed in with that though was a bitterness he hadn’t felt in a while. 

After all the mess with Trigon, Dick had brought Rachel, Gar and Jason to the Tower and talked a lot about working as a team; trusting each other, learning to live and fight in tandem. He was honest with his feedback, though Gar had noticed the phrasing of said feedback was different for each of them.

Dick was perhaps the bluntest with Jason; often his approval was expressed through nods and short words of praise. While he only chastised carelessness or showboating, he expected more from Jason, often pushing him harder and for longer than the others. Dick had once explained that as he and Jason didn’t have powers to fall back on, they couldn’t afford to let up or get complacent. That didn’t mean Jason didn’t get some wide grins his way though, and Gar was fascinated by how flustered Robin got.

Rachel received the gentlest treatment, with plenty of encouragement, but that didn’t mean she could slack off. If she made a mistake through laziness, Dick would call her out on it just as much as he would with the others. Just nicely.

As Gar had mentioned to Rachel, Dick did seem to go easy on him. The same rules applied but the limits were different. If Gar took longer to get something, Dick wouldn’t push him as much as he might Jason. Sometimes he would let Gar finish a session to continue the next day when with someone else he might have insisted they perfect it there and then.

The abuse Gar had suffered at Dick’s hands hung over them with every strained smile and ‘better luck tomorrow’.

So to find out that Dick had lied to both him and Rachel, had manipulated them for a secret plan. It stung. It reminded Gar of Dr Caulder and all his talk of helping people being a front for something more insidious. Unhappy with his thoughts, he let his bird brain take over for a while.

Flapping his wings, he glided and enjoyed the wind ruffling through his feathers. The strength and agility of the tiger was exhilarating but still, there was nothing like flying. Soon after he’d learned how to transform into a bird, Gar had once spent a whole afternoon soaring over San Francisco.

Dick and the others had been worried when he’d just up and disappeared from the roof. Rachel had beaten Dick to the punch and given Gar a lecture about going out alone and reporting back and what if something had happened to him? _Didn’t he know about hawks?_

Yeah, as an eater of grains and stuff, sparrows didn’t have violent impulses to control and Gar didn’t need to worry about his bird brain trying to chase after other animals. The downside to being a herbivore of course, was predators. 

It was why he mostly flew at night, though there were less air currents and it was harder to see. Plus, he was still green and any birdspotter would instantly notice how abnormal he looked. So far he hadn’t had any close calls, which he was thankful for, but...

Cursing, he realised he’d gotten distracted again and re-focused on his task. 

Suddenly, he saw a dirt road between the trees. Excitedly, he swooped and got closer, following it to… He circled, searching for a building. There! What looked like a small shack.

He was about the land when the communicator strapped to his leg began buzzing. Panicking slightly, he flapped back up to an air current and soared until he was a good distance away from the building. Then he landed in a big tree, really hoping no one was around.

Once human again, he put the comm in his ear. 

“I thought I saw-”

Donna interrupted. “Gar, come back to the car now.”

“But-” 

“It’s Batman. He got a message from what we think is Rose.”

“Got it. On my way.” 

Gar transformed back and took the comm in his beak. As he took off, he let himself believe they were almost ready for the rescue.

...

In the end, her father’s arrogance was his undoing. 

Rose had barely needed to use her stealth training to get at the phone. Slade had put it in his desk in a locked draw. All Rose had needed to do was sneak in and pick the lock. For once she didn’t bother considering if he’d made it that easy on purpose to test her because once the Titans got there she was leaving and never coming back.

She took the phone, relocked the draw and went to her room. Quickly, she sent a message to Batman’s number explaining Dick was still alive and she was turning against her father. Then she sent the security codes and the location of the mines at the perimeter. She knew there were more security measures but she didn’t have the time or hacking skills to figure those out so instead she warned that there were more.

It took a few minutes but she got a reply.

_Acknowledged._

Snorting, she put the phone on silent and pocketed it. Without any ETA, she decided to carry on as normal; grabbing a book about the history of explosives she sat at the little desk and whiled away a few hours. 

Eventually, she grew ansty so went to the door, thinking about badgering Wintergreen for a snack.

Slade was waiting outside her room. Her heart stopped for what felt like a full three seconds.

“Hello, dear daughter.” He greeted, voice icy cold. He was in his gear, helmet on.

_Shit._

“Slade.” She answered, hyper-aware of the shape of the phone in her back pocket.

“You went into my office.”

“I did.” She confirmed. Slade had been particular about verbal responses, often not accepting nods or shakes of the head as answers to questions.

Slade cocked his head. With his face covered the gesture was made even more terrifying.

“Why?”

There was no possibility of blagging her way out of this, no excuse she could give to throw him off the scent or disguise her intentions. Stalling it was.

“Why didn’t you tell me Jericho was still alive?”

Slade took a step closer; blank mask looming over her. “It’s none of your concern.”

“It is when he’s my brother and the whole point of me helping you was to avenge him!”

Despite her training, she wasn’t fast enough to block his attack. He flipped her around, shoving her face first into the wall. She kicked back but he avoided it and ripped the phone from her pocket. 

Tutting, Slade pulled her right arm out of the shoulder socket and wrapped his other arm around her throat. Rose struggled but couldn’t find purchase as he lugged her along. Vision spotting due to the pressure on her throat, she just managed to recognize where they were going. 

She was too weak to fight harder, but her heart pounded in her chest. Groaning, Rose could only just lift her head to see the cell door swing open. Slade threw her in, literally, and the air was forced out of her lungs as she rolled across the hard floor.

She heard voices but it was all very far away. She healed faster and with less pain if she just let her power take over and do what it needed to do, so she forced herself to relax; her shoulder reset itself and the bruises melted away.

“You alright?” Dick asked, on his knees beside her.

Rolling her eye, Rose still nodded. Although unnecessary it was nice to be asked, so sue her. She sat up and looked at Dick, noting how much worse he looked than the last time she’d seen him. He seemed mentally present though, so that was something. 

Cutting to the chase, she told him about the message she sent to Batman. 

She ignored the proud look on Dick’s face and said. “I want to save my brother. If he needs a new host, I’ll be it.”

Dick studied her and though she saw the calculations behind his eyes, he appeared to be considering her argument seriously.

Finally he nodded. “If you’re sure, you’ll have our support. Both of you.”

Rose looked around the cell, she already knew there was no way to escape but feeling anxious, she still wanted to try. Dick didn’t say anything, instead getting to his feet and beginning to go through some stretches.

After giving up on searching for weak points, Rose joined him. They worked in silence until Dick twisted slightly and Rose caught sight of the dark bruising on his back. Bile bubbled up in her throat and hot pinpricks needled her heart.

“Sorry.” She blurted, breaking out of her stance.

He looked questioningly at her, before it clicked and he shook his head. “You did what you had to.”

Rose frowned, not trusting the easy out. Dick didn’t say anything else, though he kept his eyes on her as he continued the routine. 

“I hurt you.” She tried again.

“To avoid being hurt yourself.” He countered smoothly.

She was reminded vividly of his ‘sales pitch’ voice, or really how he’d always talked that first night and day after he’d taken her to the Tower. The tone was careful and sincere but not overly emotional. He was reaching out without invading her space.

“It was Slade that put you in that position.” He continued, head tilting a little as some sympathy entered his eyes.

Two could play at that game. “And it was Slade that stabbed Jericho.”

He broke stance too; eyes pained.

Without warning, the bolt on the door scraped and the pair spun around. It wasn’t Slade on the other side, but Wintergreen, and he was armed. He looked between them, expression tight, as he leveled his gun at Rose’s head.

“Your father has gone to take care of the intruders. You two are coming with me. I know you can regenerate, but I can guarantee a headshot will take a long time to recover from, if you don’t end up brain dead.”

He eyed Dick. “Turn around, hands behind your back.”

Dick looked at Rose and she read his intention perfectly. Dick turned around and as Wintergreen stepped up to cuff him, Rose saw Dick’s foot lift off the ground a touch. She ducked and Dick stomped on Wintergreen’s foot. The handler grunted but before he could react Rose was on him. Together, she and Dick knocked the man out and handcuffed him to a pipe.

For the first time in a while, Rose felt hopeful. Just for a second though; she noticed that Dick was panting slightly, despite how little he had actually moved. Rose eyed him warily, not sure how long he would last on his feet. 

He noticed her look and waved off her concern. “I’ll rest when it’s over.”

“Then let’s finish this.” Rose said and they went to find Slade, and Jericho.

...

Hank really hated waiting, especially in the field when you couldn’t distract yourself with anything. He’d never been very good at stealth missions unless he was the one infiltrating or stealing something. Sure he could stake out a place just fine, but he didn’t like doing it.

This time was even worse as the stakes were unimaginably high. They couldn't afford to make any mistakes.

Finally, they got the signal that the security was disabled and Donna nodded them on. They all stalked towards the bunker. Feeling the reassuring weight of his suit, Hank scanned his surroundings and tried to filter out the sounds of his teammates to hear for anything else; which was made more difficult by the fancy comm piece provided by the Bat. Useful and high-tech, yes, not great for hearing out of that ear though. 

He also tried to watch where he was stepping. They’d been reassured the mines had been deactivated but one couldn’t be too careful.

As much as he’d wanted to rush in to save Dick, in the privacy of his own mind Hank could admit they’d been smart about it. Now at the location, he could imagine any number of things going wrong. 

For the first time, he missed Dick’s seemingly limitless knowledge and experience. During the old Titan days, they’d developed such a synchronization, such a familiarity not only with each other but their villains, that almost every mission had felt like they were prepared and had an advantage. 

Of course, there had been mistakes and losses but they’d worked through them together. Every time they’d been left dejected, one of them would make a speech about the team and how special they were together and it would pump them up for the next mission. Hell, even Hank had done it once.

So, okay, Hank was lying to himself; he’d missed Dick’s skills and confidence many times in the intervening years. Whilst Hawk and Dove were also a well-oiled machine that had many wins, sometimes they’d had some losses that might have been salvageable with a third member.

He would never admit that out loud, unwilling to give The Dick Grayson another advantage over poor, stumbling Hank, but it was still true.

The idea that they might be too late, that Dick might already be...It was almost too terrible to contemplate. Hank had been trying not to think about it and couldn't afford to let himself get distracted this close to the action.

They’d find their leader and bring him home, no ifs or buts.

Suddenly, there was a gunshot and a flash of fire across Hank’s vision. He ducked and rolled, seeing Dawn to the same to his right. Crouching among the grass, he realized that Kori had melted a bullet meant for himself. Great.

“Rachel!” Donna cried and the girl sent her powers forward like a forcefield. Hank, Dawn, Jason and Gar ran straight ahead, keeping behind the shield while Kori and Donna ran wide, deflecting any bullets that came their way and trying to eyeball where they were coming from. Hank kept his eyes trained high, working off a suspicion, and spotted a sniper’s nest. 

He was reporting it when a blast shook Rachel’s dark mist and she screamed.

“Grenades!” Donna yelled.

Dawn caught Rachel as she swayed and the black stuff dissipated. Hank glanced in the direction of the base and spotted a small structure that had to be the entrance. It wasn’t that far, maybe if he zig-zagged...

“We’re almost there! Gar, take Rachel-” Dawn was saying as another blast knocked them all off their feet.

The world tumbled over and over as Hank’s senses blanked out for a second. A familiar bell was ringing in his head. Groaning, he came back to himself and forced his body up. Gar was twitching through a transformation, Jason staggering up, Dawn and Rachel… Hank stumbled over, vaguely aware of Donna and Kori throwing fire and whipping lassos. 

He pulled Dawn off Rachel and saw the girl coughing but seemingly unhurt. Dawn’s face was slack and though he couldn’t see her eyes through her goggles, he knew she was unconscious. 

Hurriedly, Hank dragged the two of them behind a thick tree. 

“Dawn, Dawn, wake up!”

She groaned. “What happened?”

“You got knocked down, just take a minute.” 

Dawn pushed off Hank’s restraining hand and tried to sit up. Behind him, Hank heard a roar followed by a yelp.

“Gar!” Rachel cried.

Hank twisted to see the tiger stagger. Dammit! 

“Kid! Over here! Crawl!” Hank yelled and through the pain, Gar seemed to understand him, dropping to his haunches and moving over to their hiding spot. From the distance, Hank couldn’t see the wound, so he hoped it had been in an extremity. Rachel was crouched behind Hank, desperately waving Gar over; Dawn had dropped back onto her back again, wincing. Jason was across from them, ducked behind another tree. His expression was tight and he kept glancing at the entrance to the bunker.

Then Hank saw a blast of fire in the distance focused on a small point. Kori confirmed she’d destroyed the sniper nest and Hank thought, _yeah, good thing we have the sun woman on our side._ The bullets and grenades stopped; Hank really hoped the bastard was dead in there, though part of him doubted it.

“Hank! Get Dawn and Gar back.” Donna appeared from nowhere to order. She looked at Rachel. “Are you good?”

The girl stood, chin up. “Let’s go.”

As Hank checked over Gar’s arm, looked like just a graze thank God, and kept Dawn awake with a running commentary on his amazing first aid skills, he wished the others luck in his head.

...

Donna pushed on, forcing herself to forget about the casualties. She had Kori, Jason and Rachel with her and one, possibly two, packages to find and extract: that was all she could think about just then. The doors opened with the code Batman had given her and she did a visual sweep of the entrance way before ushering the others in. 

“Stay alert. Both Slade and Wintergreen could still be skulking around.”

They jogged down the metal stairs, Donna straining her super hearing for any noises deeper in the base. The stairs ended in a large garage with two corridors at the other end. Loathe as she was to split up, Donna didn’t want to risk Deathstroke nabbing Dick and making a get away.

She ordered Kori and Rachel down the left corridor, taking the right with Jason but not before planting a bug between the two. If anyone went into the garage, she’d hear it.

Heart pounding, she stalked forward, Jason quiet as a cat beside her; she came to a stop as they reached an open-plan kitchen.

Jason opened his mouth but whatever he was about to say was interrupted by two figures bursting out from behind a door. Donna’s heart leapt as she recognized Dick and Rose.

“Dick!” Jason called, darting forward and plastering himself to Dick’s right side. 

Stripped to his boxers, bandages around his chest and looking generally exhausted and in pain, Dick still grinned and pulled Jason into a half-hug.

“Jason! Thank God you’re alright!”

As the brothers looked each other over, Donna eyed Rose. The girl ducked her head awkwardly and Donna felt no love for her, but it did look like she’d been helping Dick escape.

“We need to find Slade.” Rose said and everyone looked at her.

Dick locked eyes with Donna and said. “Jericho’s still alive. He jumped into Slade before...”

Head swimming, Donna managed. “Oh. Okay, so, what’s the plan?”

Dick and Rose exchanged a look. Dick said. “We’re hoping Rachel could help. Is she here?”

“She and Kori went down the other way.” Jason explained.

Something beeped and Donna realized it was the bug. 

“Someone’s in the garage.” She reported and they all went off jogging.

At first Donna didn’t see anyone but then two gunshots rang out. Donna dodged a bullet that had been aimed at her head and rolled behind a car, seeing the others duck behind the other one. But...she saw Rose on the ground and Donna’s breath caught. It looked like the girl had been shot through the heart.

Donna’s blood boiled. She looked back up to where Dick and Jason were crouched and barely had time to shout a warning. “Behind you!”

The pair were already moving, Jason lunging for Deathstroke’s feet, Dick going to strike the gun out of his hands. A shot went off but as Donna rushed up she didn’t see either Dick nor Jason stumble in their attacks. Together they pushed Deathstroke back towards where they’d come in from. He shoved Dick a few steps back, who took longer than usual to recover his balance. Jason ducked and weaved, holding his own until he took a powerful slug to the face and fell to the ground.

Donna entered the fray, rage powering her movements and landing harder blows than she’d dealt in a long time. Deathstroke fell to one knee under one of her hits and she twisted to give a roundhouse kick to his head but he stopped her leg with an arm and threw her off balance. 

She didn’t see exactly what happened but when she got up and turned around, Deathstroke had Dick by the throat, gun pressed against the side of his head.

Donna’s fists clenched.

A little behind her, Jason stumbled to his feet. “Let him go!”

“Ah, ah, ah. Stay where you are.” Deathstroke warned. Dick winced, the barrel pressing harder against his skull.

Donna heard running footsteps and someone gasp. 

“Dick!” Rachel cried.

Dick tried to say something but the pressure on his windpipe didn’t let any sound come out. Deathstroke backed away, half-dragging Dick with him towards the corridor to the kitchen.

Donna’s mind worked, was there a secret exit there?

“It’s over Slade, let him go!” Kori called. She and Rachel were hovering by the other corridor.

“How about we all…” Deathstroke began and then trailed off oddly. 

Donna frowned and then her eye caught something: there was a smear of blood on the ground...where was Rose?

…

Jericho felt like screaming. That was pretty much the default those days, but the helpless, infuriated anguish he felt then was almost unbearable. Bad enough he’d seen his father stalk and plot against his friends, bad enough he’d watched the man torture not only his sister but one of said friends, bad enough he’d felt Slade’s vindictive glee at all the suffering he caused. Now he would have to witness Slade actually kill them all?

 _No._

Jericho gathered all his strength. He’d overpowered Slade before, he could do it again. Enough of this blank, cold prison. 

Expanding his consciousness to feel Slade’s limbs: his strong legs planted on the ground, bulging arms restraining Dick and the tight grip on the gun, Jericho concentrated on the hand holding the gun. If he could only... 

Something hit them from behind and their hold loosened enough for Dick to slip free. Jericho forced the hand to drop the gun and the other hand was caught by Wonder Girl’s lasso. 

Slade struggled but between Jericho’s sabotage, Rose and Donna’s strength and Rachel’s dark powers, he was forced to the ground.

In amongst it all, Jericho heard Jason’s low tones encouraging Dick to breathe and his love for his friends swelled. 

Rose’s face appeared in their field of vision. “Jericho, if you can hear me. You know what to do.”

Excitement sparked through Jericho’s entire self and he lifted his hands.

 _No, Jericho please._ His father thought.

 _I won’t be your prisoner anymore._ Jericho thought back and pushed against the barrier.

With a rush, he felt himself leaving his father’s body and things tumbled over and over until suddenly he was right side up again. 

He was in a girl’s bedroom. Rose was there, dressed in a typical Valley-girl outfit. She looked around before turning to him.

 _My old room, really? There are much more interesting places to be._ She thought.

 _Not to me._ Jericho thought back and couldn’t help but grin. He was free from that monster. He almost couldn’t believe it.

His sister smiled back at him.

“Rose?” Someone asked outside their head.

“Jericho?” Came Dick’s voice.

His sister was amused by Jericho’s joy at hearing Dick, but she didn’t comment. Instead she offered Jericho control. Giddy, he accepted.

Jericho looked down at their hands, getting a feel for them. Then he signed a greeting and couldn't keep the beam off their face. Dick’s eyes got watery as he replied. He was leaning pretty heavily on Jason, but his eyes were only for Jericho. Jericho was so happy it was like he was flying.

The moment was broken though; Slade was struggling and Rachel cried that she couldn’t hold him much longer.

Kori stepped up, looking at the siblings. “What do you want to do with him?”

“He’s too dangerous to let live. He’ll just come after us again.” Donna said.

“Burn him.” Jason agreed, voice tight with rage.

“He’s their father.” Dick said.

“No.” Jericho answered. Rose nodded to him in their minds and he continued. “Not anymore.”

There was a beat of silence. Slade stopped struggling and choked out. “Jericho! Rose! Please!”

Jericho and Rose looked to Kori and nodded once. She lit up, eyes neon green and skin glowing, fire forming at her fingertips. Everyone stepped away, Rachel drew back her dark tendrils and Kori launched the fire at Slade.

Jericho and Rose watched as he burned.

Once Jericho would have wept, now he just felt relief. His sister felt it too and for a long moment, the two shared in the dizzying freedom.

People were moving around them, saying things and making decisions, but the siblings ignored all that.

 _It’s nice to meet you,_ Rose thought, _you feel nice. Wait, is that weird to say?_

Jericho chuckled. _No, I understand what you mean. You feel nice too. Trust me, after spending five years in that psycho’s head, this is insanely nice._

 _I’m so sorry you had to go through that._ Rose thought. 

Jericho couldn’t think of anything to say to that but Rose sensed how he felt.

“Hey,” it was Dick again, “you guys okay?”

Feeling tired, Jericho let Rose take over. She nodded and then after a brief hesitation, wrapped her arms around Dick’s shoulders, loosely so as not to put pressure on his bruises. Dick stiffened in surprise but then relaxed, bringing his arms up to hug her gently back.

 _Don’t say I’ve never done anything for you,_ Rose thought to Jericho.

Jericho mock-sighed. _I’ve only been here five minutes and you’re already extorting favors from me._

 _I’m just telling you to remember this when I need something._ Rose thought back, _totally not extortion._

Jericho grumbled but still couldn't hold back his smile. Rose pulled back and let Rachel take her turn to get a Grayson hug.

“Where did you say Wintergreen was? Because there’s no one in the cell.” Kori reported, coming back from where the cell was.

“Problem for another day.” Donna decided, worried eyes on Dick’s slumped form. Jericho was also concerned for him and fought to ignore Rose’s snicker.

Dick looked back at Donna and nodded. Then he beckoned Rose and Jason over, throwing an arm over their shoulders.

“Let’s go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why yes Jericho does have a crush on Dick and yes, Rose is going to tease him mercilessly for it later.  
> Also, if Deathstroke comes back in the show because no one checked he was really dead, I’m gonna be so mad.


	6. The Aftermath

Understandably, none of the kids wanted to let Dick out of their sight. Through a combination of puppy dog eyes, whining and Dick saying it was fine, Dawn finally let them all stuff themselves into a corner of the medbay as she tended to Dick’s numerous wounds. Gar’s gunshot wound had already been tied off and he was sitting on his own bed, eyes drooping from the medication.

As usual Dick had tried to beg off taking pain killers but Rachel’s sad face during that argument had crumbled his resolve and he’d given in. He lay on his side as Dawn treated the wounds on his back, which looked painful but not life-threatening. Hank had already determined that Dawn didn't have a concussion and as the one most experienced in medicine, she'd swallowed down some pills for her raging headache and insisted she be the one to take care of Dick and Gar.

Dawn had forgotten how loopy Dick could get on pain meds, which was the main reason he preferred to not to take them. Everyone else liked it though and she had to hide a grin as Dick rhapsodized about Kori’s hair for a few minutes. He really was a sap at heart. 

That led onto a discussion of whose hairstyle was coolest, Rose and Gar being the most popular votes. Everyone was tired but having recovered not only Dick but Rose and Jericho too was a balm on all their nerves. It was like slipping into a piping hot bath after a long day.

Their peace was interrupted, however, when Dick flinched as Dawn wrapped a particularly dark part of the bruising and Rachel grabbed Dick’s hand, careful of the IV in the back of it; worry flooding her face.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Dick clumsily patted her hand with his free one. “These are nowhere near the worst injuries I’ve ever gotten.” 

There was an awkward pause and Dawn’s heart grew heavy. She’d been there for a lot of those injuries.

Not noticing the vibe, Dick went on. “Like the time Two-Face beat me into a coma, that was not fun.”

Dawn’s hand stilled and she saw the others tense.

“Huh, Batman never told me that story.” Jason said eventually.

Dick snorted and Dawn’s heart clenched. She really hated stories from Dick’s time with Batman, hearing the self-deprecation and hurt between the lines.

“Well he wouldn’t. That was the first time I got fired, after all.”

"The first time?” Gar asked, laughing nervously. “How many times can you get fired from being Robin?”

Dick’s face scrunched up a little. “At least three, that I remember, though he usually did it when I was injured so there could have been more times.”

“Huh.” Gar said in a small voice.

“Hey, why don’t you try to sleep?” Dawn suggested, forcing her hands steady as she continued bandaging.

“No wait, it’s actually a good cautionary tale.” Dick looked at Rachel and began seriously. “Never play Two-Face’s game. There’re always two parts and he breaks his own rules.”

Brow furrowed, Rachel still humored him. “Okay, I promise.”

“No, seriously.” Dick insisted. “Don’t do it. You’ll only get the judge killed, get knocked unconscious for two weeks and then Bruce will be so angry he won’t even look at you for three months after that.”

“We get it.” Jason cut in. “Don’t engage with Two-Face.” He frowned. “Huh, I guess that’s why Bruce always insists I hang back when the guy is on the streets.”

“But not just Two-Face. When you confront any new threat, you can’t get cocky.” Dick continued. “It was the first time we’d seen him since the accident and we didn’t know how he worked yet. But me, being the arrogant little snot I was, thought I could beat him at his own game. Look how that turned out.”

“How old were you?” Dawn asked before she could stop herself. She knew Dick would ordinarily never divulge this amount of information on his past, especially the bad parts, but the temptation was just too great.

“Uh, thirteen I think.” Dick replied, as if he’d been trying to remember what groceries they needed.

Dawn met Rachel’s eyes and saw they were shining. She felt like crying herself.

“Sounds like you freaked Bruce out.” Jason said. “He fired you because he got scared by how hurt you were, not because you did anything wrong.”

Dawn was impressed by that emotional insight and then felt bad about expecting so little of Jason. Yes, he was a headstrong kid, but he’d also trained with Batman; intelligence was a given with that set.

“Oh yeah, I know that now.” Dick replied. “At the time though, I was just a dumb kid. I was terrified he was going to kick me out too.”

“That must have sucked.” Rachel commented, voice thick with unshed tears.

“Eh,” Dick shrugged the shoulder he wasn’t lying on, “it wasn’t all bad. It made me come up with the List.”

“What’s that?” Rose, or Jericho, asked.

Dick huffed a laugh. “My brilliant nine-point plan for getting him to take me back as Robin. I was so proud of it.”

“Yeah? What was on it?” Jason asked.

Dawn pursed her lips but allowed it as Dick sounded nostalgic.

“Hmm, I don’t remember everything, but getting better with computers was definitely on there.” 

He grinned and spoke in a more conspiratorial voice. “We didn’t really have much use for them in the circus and Pop Haly just had an old beat up laptop for checking emails. I'd never used one until I started going to Gotham Academy.”

“Same!” Gar exclaimed. At the other’s look, he shrugged. “Okay, not the circus bit, but on safari we didn’t exactly have a reliable connection and mom never let me use her research computer.”

Dick laughed. “But you’re so good now!”

Gar smiled. “Playing lots of video games will do that to ya. When I first came to America I spent so much time in doors at the Caulder House I got really good.” 

“Maybe I should have done that. Man, I was the slowest typer for ages. The first time Bruce watched me typing I thought he was going to have an aneurysm.” Dick explained and then honest to God giggled. “Especially as I was typing,” he imitated a robot, “‘what’s up, Bruce’?”

The children laughed too and Dawn allowed herself a smile.

“What else?” Rachel asked.

Dick thought for a moment. “Scoring higher in English, that was one.”

“I thought you read a lot. How else do you know all those quotes by heart?” Rachel pointed out, smiling at the others in an obvious in-joke. Having experienced lots of mini-lectures from Dick, Dawn imagined his lofty and technical language had only worsened over the years.

“Many, many boring afternoons of memorizing I’m afraid.” Dick admitted. “Again, I didn’t read much when I could be training or doing chores around the Circus. And even when I did sit still long enough to read, I preferred Percy’s books and they were all in French.”

“You speak French?” Rose asked.

“ _Oui, madame, entre autres_ *.”

There were a few more things on the list, obvious things like improving strength and endurance, teaching himself a more efficient fighting style, and a few silly ones like learning how to bake Bruce's favourite cookies.

“Sounds like a great list.” Gar commented.

“Oh it was, I was so proud of it and it worked! For four, five years, everything was great.”

The teens looked confused and Dawn had to step in; she knew that story and also that Dick would not be happy if anyone else found out, especially like that.

“Okay, you’re all done.”

Everyone protested, including a sleepy-looking Dick, but Dawn remained firm that he had to rest. 

“At least let me explain about what happened with Deathstroke the first time.” Dick said once most of the teenagers’ arguments had dwindled to pouts.

“Dick…”

“Just the short version.” He pleaded and the way he looked up at her...

God, she’d half-forgotten the youthful, playful side of him and how much she missed it. Sighing, she gave him twenty minutes to summarize everything. 

The kids leaned in eagerly as Dick told them what happened with Jericho: how Deathstroke had killed Garth, how Dick had found out about Jericho, came up with the idea to pump him for information and how that goal had changed once they’d gotten to know Jericho and his powers.

The team listened mostly silently, though added some asides here and there. Jericho interjected a few times, usually when Dick was being too hard on himself but also to give his first impressions of the Titans and his feelings during the whole thing.

Dawn spoke once, to confirm that Garth’s death had weighed heavily on all of them and grief had clouded their judgement.

After Dick explained about the fight in the church and the death of Jericho’s body, there was a short silence. And then...

“After that we all went our separate ways. So I lost that family too.” He said, gaze distant.

“You need to rest.” Dawn said, expression pinched. She stroked sweaty bangs off his forehead.

“I need to suffer.” Dick replied almost petulantly, like a kid refusing to go to bed.

“Five years is enough.” Jericho said.

Dick blinked groggily and as if taking that as permission to sleep, finally closed his eyes.

Everyone stayed quiet for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts. Dawn moved first, snapping her hand back, as she suddenly realised it was still in Dick’s hair. 

She cleared her throat and gestured to the kids. “Come on, we should let him rest.”

They all started to file out, except for Rachel, who insisted he shouldn’t be alone.

“We’ll take shifts.” Gar said, unusually assertively. The others agreed and left the medbay. Dawn went to update the others who were hanging out in Hank’s room.

Once in the hall, Gar said. “I don’t know about you guys, but I really don’t want to be alone right now. Want to play Smash Bros?”

Jason glanced at Rose and Jericho. 

Jericho gave a thumbs up and it was still weird to see such a nice expression on Rose’s face. Feeling warmth bloom in his chest, Jason nodded to Gar who whooped and raced ahead to the living room; he had far too much energy for someone who’d been clipped by a bullet only a few hours before.

As Jason, Rose and Jericho followed at a normal pace, Jason felt words bubbling up in his throat.

“Thanks, or whatever.” He said to Rose.

She frowned. “Who are you talking to?”

Jason shrugged, avoiding eye contact. “I dunno, both of you I guess. Dick’s annoying but he’s not a bad trainer.”

Feeling their eyes on him, he went on. “We’re all glad to have him back.” 

“Sure.” And that was definitely Rose.

Jason couldn’t think of anything else to say, so as the evening went on he just concentrated on defending his title as Fastest Racer in the Tower, ribbing Gar and watching Rose and Jericho learn the mechanics.

Maybe he stopped every so often to help out, so what?

They were a team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Oui, madame, entre autres. = Yes, ma’am, among others.   
> If there are any French readers here, let me know if this is natural or not! I was wavering between this and 'parmi autres' but I'm still not sure if this is even a construction a French speaker would use in this context.  
> I haven’t decided how many languages Dick speaks yet, but let’s just say it’s a few.  
> Also, I totally stole the ‘Dick makes a plan to get Bruce to keep him after the Two-Face incident’ idea from someone else but I can’t remember which fic it’s from. If you recognize it, let me know!


	7. The Next Steps

Dawn came back from tending to Dick and Gar, looking worn out. She told Kori, Donna and Hank a summary of what Dick had told the kids about Jericho and Deathstroke. She mentioned that there were a few other things, but that it was Dick’s place to decide whether they should know or not.

“You know how chatty he gets on analgesics.” She said to Hank and Donna, who both nodded. 

While still concerned about Dick’s state of mind and how he would heal physically, Kori was grateful for the info concerning his reaction to pain meds. She wondered if alcohol did the same thing, very likely due to his refusal to drink more than a glass at the motel, and made a mental note to test it at the earliest opportunity. 

But first, there was business to discuss. 

“I know we all have our own stuff going on,” Kori began, “but I really think Dick will need some help here.”

Dawn nodded. “Deathstroke’s taken care of but now we have two more kids, one of which is trapped in another’s body. Plus, when they start going out on missions they’re going to need more than one veteran to keep them safe.”

“And in line.” Donna muttered.

Hank folded his arms. “I don’t disagree with that, but there’s a whole roster of heroes who could step in to help mentor those kids and serve on the team.” He glanced at Dawn. “Doesn’t mean it has to be us.”

Dawn looked back at him and Kori didn’t need psychic powers to predict the argument brewing between those two.

“You got somewhere to be Hank?” Donna frowned.

Kori really did not want to be caught up in old Titans dynamics. She loved Donna, all those hours spent staking out places with her had created a bond, but the other two she didn’t really know and didn’t have time to.

“Yeah, I have a life! We,” Hank gestured between himself and Dawn, “have a life. We got out of the game and we’re happy. The only reason we came back was because of Dr Light and now he and Deathstroke are gone, we’ll be going back to it, thank you.”

“Is that really what you want?” Dawn asked.

Hank looked at her, eyes a little wide.

Dawn stepped towards him, laying a hand on his arm. “You don’t miss it?”

Lowering his voice, Hank replied. “Of course I do, but we got out. We were making it work, remember?”

Dawn’s expression was hard to look at. Kori’s phone buzzed in her pocket; it was Fiddei.

“Look,” she said, drawing their attention, “I agree people need to stay to help but I’ve got some urgent personal matters to deal with.”

“The interruption?” Donna asked.

“Hey, why does she get to go?” Hank complained. 

_Considering how the keeping of secrets had been so harmful to the team before_ … Kori sighed. “Someone from my home planet has come to take me back.”

Hank choked in his spit, Dawn’s mouth fell open and Donna just looked at her.

“So you’re leaving?” Donna asked.

Kori bit her lip. “I don’t want to, but I might not have a choice.” At that moment, she really wanted Dick there, “I’m kind of next in line for the throne. Though I really want to stay on Earth.”

More shock, though she really didn’t have time for it. 

“Well, I’ve had some diplomacy training,” Donna began slowly, “maybe I could help you talk your way out of it.”

Kori smiled. “You’d do that?”

“If Hank and Dawn are happy staying here.” Donna looked between them and then raised a hand at Hank. “Just until I get back, then you can go if you want.”

Though frowning, Hank shrugged. “Sure, we can babysit.”

Dawn kissed him on the cheek and his face softened. He said to Donna. “If you need backup…”

She nodded. “We’ll call.” Then to Kori, she said. “Come on, let’s update Dick.”

“He should rest some more.” Dawn protested.

Kori looked back at her phone and started tapping out a message. “We could wait another hour, maybe two.”

Donna nodded. “In that case,” she turned to Dawn, “let me formally introduce you to Bruce Wayne. We need someone else here who can contact him.” 

“Oh, I already know him.” Dawn said, something biting in her tone.

Kori wondered what the story behind that animosity was.

“Then let me brief you on the Daddy Bat Protocols.” Donna grinned at Dawn’s raised eyebrow. “Something me and Dick came up with as kids. Trust me, you’ll need to know them in order to get yourself heard.”

Hank scoffed and waved a hand. “Hello? Am I not good enough?”

Donna patted him on the shoulder as she made to leave the room. “No offense intended, big guy. But you and Bruce together on a call would end in disaster for everyone.” 

Hank conceded the point though he still looked annoyed. Kori left the room and followed the sounds of good natured yelling. 

The kids were playing a video game in the living space: Jason and Gar were waving their arms at each other, arguing about some technicality or other with Rachel and Rose laughing at them. It made Kori’s heart warm to see them happy.

“Rachel, Gar, a word?” She called. 

Rachel stood, beginning to look worried.

Gar jumped up, pointing at Jason. “This isn’t over.” He handed his controller to Rose. “Take over for me?”

“Sure.” Rose replied. She smiled mock-sweetly at Jason. “Prepare to eat my dust.”

Jason laughed and there was more trash talking as Kori led Rachel and Gar to the kitchen.

“What’s wrong?” Rachel asked.

“I have to go deal with something.”

“But you’re coming back, right?” Gar asked.

Kori cupped Rachel’s cheek and put a hand on Gar’s shoulder. “This something, I might have to go back to my home planet.”

She explained a little more and they protested, but ultimately, Rachel said. “You have to find out who you are.”

Kori smiled sadly and stroked Rachel’s arm. She looked between Rachel and Gar. “You take care of yourselves and each other.”

Gar nodded. “We will.” He hugged her and Kori dragged Rachel in as well.

Man, she was going to miss those kids.

Donna came back up and she and Kori went to the medbay. Dick was still sleeping, lying on his stomach with his face mashed into the pillow. Kori’s heart clenched. The few times she’d seen him sleeping before, his face had been smooth and youthful - free of all his waking concerns. Now his brow was furrowed and his eyes were moving jerkily under his lids.

Donna sat on the edge of the bed and shook him gently. “Dick, wake up.”

He groaned and blinked awake. “Donna? You okay?”

“I am in peak physical condition compared to you, mister.” She glanced back at Kori and moved over to let her step up.

“You gave us all quite a scare.” Kori said, putting a hand on the back of his neck.

“Sorry.” He mumbled, eyes going half-mast as she massaged his neck with her thumb.

“Hey, don’t fall asleep on me yet. I need to tell you something.”

Dick’s eyes opened fully and focused on her face. “You’re leaving.”

“Yeah.”

He shifted, pushing up to his elbows as his eyes went wide. “Right now?”

Kori’s heart scrunched even tighter at his plaintive tone. She felt exactly the same. Sadly, she nodded. “I’ll try to come back as soon as I can.”

His eyes filled with tears and with her hand still on the back of his neck, she squeezed gently.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered.

Sniffing, he tried to smile. “Hey, if it’s the right thing to do, you have to do it. But I’ll miss you.”

A tear slipped out of his eye and Kori moved her hand to wipe it away. “I’ll miss you too, Detective.”

He lent his cheek into her palm, eyes closing as a few more tears ran down his face.

“Take care of her, Don, won’t you?” Dick asked without opening his eyes.

“Of course.” Donna said.

Swallowing, Kori kissed Dick on the forehead and forced herself to step back. He opened his eyes and she watched as he boxed up the pain. 

He nodded to both of them. “Good luck.”

Kori and Donna went to the door, Dick turning onto his other side to see them off. With one last, lingering look, Kori turned and left.

...

Jason shot awake. Panting and gasping, he threw off his covers and staggered to the bathroom. He clutched the sides of the sink and tried to steady his breathing, telling himself that he was safe and not falling. After a few minutes, his heart rate had calmed down and he could breathe easier. 

Looking up at himself in the mirror, he studied his face and tried to push down the accusing voices that told him he was the reason Dick had been captured. He was the cause of all the fighting, of his big brother being in that monster’s clutches. Blinking, he fought to forget the twisted imaginings of his mind: Dick screaming as Deathstroke laughed that husky, sickening laugh.

Then, it came back to him in a rush. They’d gotten Dick back and Deathstroke was gone for good.

Jason half-collapsed with relief, sagging against the sink. He looked back at himself and laughed nervously. 

Rubbing a hand across his face, he muttered. “Get a grip.”

He washed up and got dressed even though it was earlier than usual. The Tower was quiet and ignoring the kitchen, Jason padded across the main room. His skin was goosebumping after the nightmare and he wanted to check on Dick, just to confirm to himself that his brother was okay.

The early morning peace was broken, however, by raised voices. Jason frowned and quick-walked to the medbay where he heard the tail-end of Hank shouting.

“-and everyone else has to clean up your mess!” 

Jason threw open the door and took in the scene.

Hank was waving his arms, bandages in one hand, and Dick? He was on the floor for some reason; flat on his ass, half-leaning against the nightstand and only vaguely looking in Hank’s direction, eyes unfocused. He was alert enough to see Jason come in though.

“Jason.”

Hank stopped ranting and glanced behind him.

“What’s going on?” Jason asked, temper beginning to spark.

“ _Someone_ decided he could go and get his own breakfast with a hole in his leg.” Hank explained, rubbing his eyes with his free hand.

Dick turned even more into the nightstand, obviously embarrassed. The sight fanned the flames of Jason’s anger.

“So you decided to use him as a verbal punching bag?” He bit out, stalking over and bending down to help Dick up.

“He’s the one who collapsed after I _told_ him to stay put.” Hank protested, though he hooked his arm under Dick’s other armpit and helped dump him back onto the bed. 

“It _was_ my fault.” Dick agreed tiredly, wincing as he shifted back into a more comfortable position.

That was it: Jason was enraged.

“That’s no excuse to be an asshole about it!” He rounded on Hank.

Raising an eyebrow, Hank huffed. “Hey, kid. What’s your problem?”

“My problem is you.”

Hank chuckled, eyes glittering. “Oh, is that right?”

“Guys…” Dick sighed.

“Yeah, that’s right. You’re always so quick to criticise everyone else when you’re not Mr. Perfect yourself.”

“You’re one to talk! First you brag on national TV about the Titans getting back together and put a target on all of our backs, then you run off right into Deathstroke’s trap!”

“People would have found out anyway-” Dick said in the background. 

He was ignored.

“Well unlike you I actually want to be here and be a Titan!” Jason hit back, stepping closer to Hank. “You can’t go five minutes without saying how you want to go home, like a fucking baby! Well go ahead and leave if you can’t handle being a second-rate hero next to Robin!”

“I’m the baby? I was kicking ass before you were out of diapers!” Hank pointed at Dick. “And I’ve saved this jerk’s ass more times than I can count!”

“Don’t call him that!”

Hank laughed meanly. “Oh, what? You love him now?”

“Guys, stop!” Dick said.

“At least he tried to save me! You were probably glad I got kidnapped!” Jason cried, fists so tight his nails were digging into his palms.

Truly angry, Hank yelled.“You don’t know what the Hell you’re talking about, kid!” 

“That’s enough!” Dick shouted. His voice cracked and he started coughing. Jason glanced at him briefly but soon turned back to Hank, mouth open to retort. He was interrupted though. 

“What’s going on in here?” Dawn asked, jogging in and looking at the men.

Hank straightened, expression contrite. Jason avoided Dawn’s gaze, instead taking a step back and glancing at the window. The sun had risen but the sky looked washed out and grey.

“I fell out of bed. Hank and Jason were helping me back up.” Dick said eventually.

Dawn eyed each of them suspiciously but she didn’t comment. Instead she walked up to Hank.

“Why don’t you go ahead and get breakfast started? Me and Jason can change Dick’s bandages.”

After a short hesitation, Hank nodded and handed her the bandage role. Without looking at anyone else, he left.

“We should have had a pool for when this would happen.” Dawn said conversationally. “I would have won a lot of money.”

“What? Me and your boyfriend going at it or Dickhead reopening his wound?” Jason asked, looking at the red spot on Dick’s leg.

Dick glanced down and groaned, tilting his head back to rest against the pillows.

Dawn tutted as she got to work. “You know what happens when you overexert yourself after major injuries.”

Dick sighed and nodded. “Yeah, yeah. I know.”

Heart rate having calmed down, Jason stepped up to the bed and put on some gloves before reattaching Dick’s IV. Dick opened his mouth to protest but Dawn’s frown stopped him.

Instead he sat back again. “Thanks, Jay.” 

Dawn glanced up at Jason. “Back in the day we did actually have a betting pool for this kind of thing.”

“Oh yeah?” Jason grinned.

“Please, no.” Dick protested weakly.

“It’s the least you deserve.” Dawn said, smiling a little. She said to Jason. “Do you want to hear about the time he got second degree burns on both hands and broke the coffee pot trying to make himself a coffee? Or the time he agreed to an eating contest with Garth whilst hiding a concussion?”

“Both, obviously.”

Dick pouted, but there was a spark in his eyes as he looked between them. Jason’s heart swelled and his nerves were soothed as he listened to Dawn’s stories of budding heroes being young and dumb and happy.

A few days later, once Dick was back on his feet, they held a Titan’s meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about taking Kori away; it won’t be for long, I promise! Also, I hope Hank and Jason get more scenes together next season because they’re so similar it’s uncanny.  
> Poor Hank, he thought he’d be nice and help Dick get up and get some breakfast but instead has to deal with Dick being stubborn and Jason appearing out of nowhere to shout at him.  
> Is anyone else darkly amused by the tension between Dick and Hank? Hank’s insecure about Dick stealing Dawn but when Dick was actually dating her, he was the one who was insecure and assumed Dawn was still hung up on Hank?  
> These men, jeez, get a clue!


	8. The Meeting

Dick looked around the group and sat up a little straighter in the armchair. Public speaking never got easier for him, even if it was only friends and family he was talking to. The fear of tripping over his words or saying something to reveal how much of a fraud he was, still dogged him as much as it did during the original Titan’s run.

Dawn and Hank sat on one couch: Dawn curled up and Hank reclining, legs spread casually. They were holding hands and though not completely relaxed, Hank didn’t look like he was agitated either.

Jason sat on the other couch with Rose and Jericho a friendly distance apart with Gar sitting on the floor in front, leaning against the couch. Rachel was in the armchair next to Dick’s and for a moment Dick wondered at the distance between Rachel and Gar - did it mean something? Were they fighting?

Well, no time to worry about that now.

He coughed. “So, I think we should clear the air. If we want this to work, we need to be open about how we feel and what we expect from each other.”

Forcing himself to look everyone in the eye, he continued. “I know I haven’t been honest myself, and it wasn’t ever about trust, because I do trust all of you, but about my own issues.”

Most of the faces were solemn, but Dawn had a small smile and Rachel was nodding slightly, looking hopeful. 

Dick pressed on. “Rachel, Gar, I’m sorry for lying to you about the plan to get Jason back. I had my reasons but it was still really shitty of me.”

“Yeah, it was.” Gar agreed and then tensed up. When Dick didn’t react other than nod, Gar relaxed. Dick made a mental note to work on giving Gar space to express his opinions and encourage him as much as possible.

Maybe when there wasn’t as much of an audience. 

Dick swallowed and continued. “I wish I could promise you it’ll never happen again but I can’t guarantee I won’t fall back into bad habits.” He widened his field of vision to all of them. “I can understand if you don’t want to stay or if you’d want someone else to-”

“I’m sure we can figure something out.” Rachel said, waving a hand at Dick’s last suggestion. “Make a safe space for frank discussions... somewhere people aren’t allowed to yell at each other.” Her eyes wandered over to Hank. 

Noticing, Hank asked. “Hey, why are you looking at me?”

“No reason.” Rachel replied airily.

“It’s a good idea, Rachel.” Dawn said quickly, glancing at Hank to settle him down. “Maybe we could all work on it together. Make it somewhere we all feel belongs to us.”

Dick nodded, and encouraged, looked at Rachel, Gar and Jason. “I’m sorry for not telling you all about what happened with the Titans the first time around. It wasn’t fair of me to bring you here without you knowing exactly what legacy you were agreeing to continue.”

“Is that why you didn’t let us go out and do anything?” Jason asked.

“Partly.” Dick admitted. His gaze fell a moment before he looked back up between the kids. “Some of it was not being sure of my own role. If you were all suiting up and going out I would definitely go with you, at least to supervise if not actively fight. But I’m still trying to figure out what that would look like and even if I did have a suit and an identity, I wasn’t confident I would be enough to keep you all safe.”

Jason opened his mouth but Dick raised a hand. “ _My_ idea of ‘safe’, I should say. I needed help.” He glanced at Hank and Dawn. “But I didn’t know how to ask.”

“We’re here now.” Hank surprised everyone by saying.

Dick bent his head in thanks and then looked around. “So, is there anything anyone else would like to say?” 

There was a beat of silence in which everyone looked at each other. Then Rachel sat up and let out a long breath.

“My powers changed after I got rid of my father.” Rachel pointed to the crystal in her forehead. “After this. I haven’t been sleeping very well and they’re scaring me again.” She looked down at her hands. “I don’t know how to control them.”

Dick’s heart ached to hear that; if only he hadn’t been caught up in his own demons he could have noticed and been there for her. 

Rachel turned her head to Jason. “I hurt you and I’m sorry.”

Alarm shot through Dick. What? He watched as Jason’s shoulders inched up. Dick’s mind raced: when had that happened? Exactly what _had_ happened? 

“Yeah, whatever. Kinda made up for it by saving me.” Jason replied, faux-casually.

Rachel gave him a shy smile and his expression softened. While part of him noted the exchange, most of Dick’s brain was occupied by trying to figure out when the incident had happened, had it been that weird moment in the training room a few days ago? He’d have to look over the tapes. And then there was training: would he have to adjust what he’d planned to factor in this dynamic? Partner them more or less? How many trust exercises should they do? Did they need group therapy?

He glanced up and noticed everyone looking at him expectantly. _Shit. Uh..._

Dick was trying to think of something supportive but not fake to say when Dawn saved him. “Thank you for telling us, Rachel. You’re not alone in this. We can help you or find someone who can.” 

After flashing a smile at Dawn, Rachel looked to Dick and he smiled too, hopefully in a convincing way. As Rachel and Gar exchanged a look, Dick mouthed ‘thank you’ at Dawn. 

Gar coughed. “So, uh, I guess I’ll go next.”

Dick pushed down the tangled mess of Rachel and Jason related worries and schooled his face into a warm and open expression.

“Well I don’t really have a lot to say…”

He never did, Dick noted, and wondered how much of that was because Gar was genuinely content most of the time or because he didn’t think he could voice doubts.

“...but I do sometimes worry about hurting people when I transform like uh...at the Asylum.”

“What is this Asylum thing you keep mentioning?” Hank asked.

Dick glanced at Rachel and Gar, gauging their reactions. Both of them looked back at him, seeming to let him take the lead. Great.

He made eye contact with those who hadn’t been there. “The Asylum was run by the organisation who was hunting Rachel, trying to reunite her with her father.” Pushing through the sense memory of the strap over his forehead, he explained. “At one point they captured us and performed some experiments.” He saw Gar shift out of the corner of his eye and decided to wrap it up. “Long story short we escaped but not without some new nightmare material.”

“I killed him.” Gar said, gaze distant.

“He deserved it.” Rachel snapped. “He’d been torturing you for hours.”

That sent a ripple through the group.

Gar was shaking his head. “I can still taste his blood in my mouth.”

Rachel got off her chair and sat beside him, putting an arm around his shoulder.

“Gar,” Dick called, leaning forward and catching Gar’s eyes, “you’re not a bad person. You were put in an extreme situation and acted out of instinct. With training, you can learn to control those instincts.”

“Even the tiger?”

“Even the tiger.” Dick watched Rachel rubbing Gar’s arm comfortingly and then tried. “I can ask around, see if there are any capes with transformation experience.”

The trusting expression on the teen’s face was almost overwhelming and Dick’s breath caught. How could he possibly hope to raise them right whilst training them to be vigilantes? He was going to fail. He was going to fail them and they would be hurt and angry and-

“If you need any help with triggers, Hank has some tips that could help.” Dawn cut in, focusing her gaze on Gar, though Dick felt that she was watching _him_ out of the corner of her eye. Far from annoyed at being volunteered to help, Hank also leaned forward so he could make eye contact with Gar. 

Gar took in a deep breath. “Thanks, but uh, there’s something else. I still get nightmares about the whole Trigon thing.”

Another thorn in Dick’s heart but he pushed away the feeling to concentrate on Gar’s words.

“I don’t really know what anyone could do to help with those but, yeah, since we’re all sharing.”

“I assume we all get nightmares.” Rose said. “Not like any of us is normal.”

There was a beat of silence. Dick debated his next words and then thought, fuck it.

“They’re nothing to be ashamed of. If you want to talk about them, you can. If you don’t, that’s fine too. The League has a few trusted therapists that-”

“Oh, I don’t think…” Gar protested, cheeks pinkening.

“I was thinking of asking for one for myself. I had one for a while when I was a teenager, back in Gotham.” Dick finished. His skin crawled at the eyes on him but he pushed on. “If anyone would like a neutral party to talk to, anytime. Just let me know.”

“Sounds good.” Rose, no Jericho, said. 

It was strange to see Jericho’s expression on Rose’s face, but the sight still warmed Dick’s heart.

“Either of you want to say anything?” He asked.

Their next expression was such that he couldn’t tell who it belonged to and that was another thing on Dick’s long list of issues to deal with: finding someone to help with possession. Could Jericho be given a new body or did the two have to learn to live with each other? What would they want? What could be done if the two wanted different things? So far they both seemed willing to share Rose’s body, but that could change.

“Jericho here,” Jericho said finally, signing as he spoke, “I’m still not feeling great after five years in my dad’s head but I want you to know that I don’t blame you for any of it. I decided to become a Titan and it was my dad that provoked that whole situation.” He focused on Dick. “I wish you’d stop blaming yourself.”

Dick’s eyes burned and he had to blink rapidly. Not trusting his voice, he nodded. Rose’s head dipped and when it came up again, it was her.

“I’m a lot better now that Slade’s dead, but I don’t think I could go back to my old life.”

She shrugged, avoiding everyone’s eyes. “That’s it.”

“Alright. If you aren’t already in contact with your loved ones, we can arrange secure communication.” Dick suggested. “And take you to visit.”

Rose’s lip twitched. “Thanks, Dick.” From her tone, he gathered that it was thanks for more than his offer and it made his smile wider.

Breaking the moment, Rose punched Jason’s shoulder. “Your turn.”

“Nah, man. I’m fine. I just want to get out there and _be_ a Titan.”

Dick knew better than most that Jason was fronting, even discounting the recent trauma, Jason had unresolved issues from his time in Gotham both as Jason and Robin. He knew better than to push it though, so when Hank snorted, Dick intervened.

“Okay. Hank, Dawn, you got anything to share?”

“Well, we didn’t lie about anything so no, we’re good.” Hank said, bitterness lacing his words.

Dick tried to cover his flinch by running a hand through his hair.

“Ugh, if you’re going to be like that, you can go.” Rachel said, rolling her eyes.

“Yeah, we’ve got it from here, big guy.” Jason added, sneering at Hank.

Dick blinked, a little surprised. He saw that Hank was taken aback as well.

Jericho leaned forward to look at Hank, signing as he spoke. “Maybe you could talk about what your problem with Dick is?”

Oh no, Dick really did not like where that was going. It wasn’t like he thought no one would notice the animosity, it wasn’t exactly subtle and Rachel had witnessed them going at it, but still.

“I don’t have a problem. _He’s_ the one with the problem.” Hank protested, looking distinctly hot under the collar. If Dick wasn’t cringing at the topic of conversation, he might have been amused. Dawn certainly had a small smile on her face.

“Really?” Jericho folded his arms as Jason scoffed.

“Wait, are you jealous?” Gar asked.

Everyone turned to look at Hank, whose face was going red. “No!” He blurted.

After a beat he turned to Dawn. “Aren’t you going to defend me from these brats?”

She shrugged. “Are they wrong?”

Hank’s mouth opened and closed soundlessly. Dick looked over at the kids and saw them leaning forward, mischief in their eyes.

“Okay,” Dick said, “we’re kind of wandering away from the point.”

“No, I want to hear an answer.” Jason insisted.

“You’re all crazy.” Hank said, shaking his head though his eyes were too wide for the casualness to be convincing.

“No, this actually makes a lot of sense.” Rachel said and Dick just knew she was about to bring up Dick and Dawn’s past relationship. So he interrupted.

“How about this? If you all drop it, me and Hank will sit down and sort out our issues another time. Okay?”

The kids grumbled but conceded and Hank, also looking annoyed, nodded curtly.

“Well I was going to propose we vote for a new leader, but maybe you should just do it.” Dick said to Dawn, trying and failing to say it lightly.

“What? No!” Jason protested immediately.

“We don’t need a new leader.” Gar added.

“You’re not leaving. Are you?” Rachel asked, brow furrowed.

“No, no. I promise I’m staying.” Dick raised his hands to calm the kids down. “I just need some time to get my head on straight and I think having someone else in charge would take some pressure off. When I’m back in the game we can decide who we want permanently, or keep rotating like they do in the Justice League.”

“So that means I could…?” Jason began.

“Legal adults only!” Dick said quickly, hiding a grin at Jason’s answering pout.

“Oh well in that case, I welcome our interim leader.” Jericho said, hands dancing.

“Hold on-” Dawn said.

“I second that.” Rachel said with a bright smile.

“Me three!” Gar chimed in. “Hey, will you give us homework like Dick does?”

Jason shrugged. “Sure, we’ll give you a go.”

Rose nodded approvingly.

“Just do it, Dawnie.” Hank said. “You’ll be great.”

Dawn looked at Dick, biting her lip. 

He smiled at her. “I’ll still be here.” He turned to the kids. “And I meant in the field, I can and will still lead training.”

Good-natured groaning came from Jason, Rachel and Gar. Jericho and Rose looked amused.

Gar shook his head and told them. “Soon you’ll see.”

Dawn threw up her hands. “Alright, if it’s unanimous, I guess I don’t have a choice.”

“You’ll be great.” Dick reassured her. Then he looked around the group. “Okay, so enjoy the rest of the day because this is the last of your holiday. Back to training tomorrow.”

He ignored the groans and sour looks, instead chuckling as the kids quickly recovered their cheer and started throwing around ideas for things to do for the afternoon. He pulled himself up gingerly, whole body still aching, and went over to the kitchen to make a shopping list for the upcoming week.

Dawn came up to him. “I’m proud of you.”

He wanted to make a joke about gold stars and being a teacher's pet but his throat was too tight. He just nodded and she saw his sentiment anyway.

“But I’m still annoyed you volunteered me for this.”

He chuckled. “I’ll still be there on comms when you eventually get out in the field and tomorrow I’ll debrief you on all of them. You can watch them train, get a feel for their dynamics and we can hash out some contingencies.”

Hank came up behind Dawn and Dick addressed him. “Plus, Hank will be helping too, right?”

“Oh no, those little buggers are all yours.” Hank half-growled.

“They just need to get to know you, that’s all.” Dawn lent into him, pressing a kiss onto his shoulder.

“You could lead some training sessions.” Dick suggested. “Show them some cool moves, let them off early, take them for pizza. They’ll soften right up.”

Dawn looked up at Hank, tilting her head in a ‘good idea, right?’ way. 

Humming, Hank considered. 

Dick held up the kitchen notepad. “If I order the family pack of spinach, it’ll be extra effective.”

“You’re such a dad.” Dawn laughed and Dick’s heart fluttered. The kids had occasionally joked about him being like a parent and every time without fail, Dick’s poor old heart had taken it literally.

To Dick’s relief, Hank grinned. “Sure, I’ll be the cool uncle.”

“Sure you don’t want to adopt one of them?”

Hank chuckled. “No, thanks! They’re all yours.”

And Dick’s chest felt light. 

Later, Dick would call around for mentors for Gar and Rachel specifically; he’d find Rachel and have a more private talk about his deception and her fear of him leaving. He’d figure out a way to make Gar feel safer about expressing himself and check in about the things Dick had done under Trigon’s influence. Also, he’d try to talk to Jason about his need to prove himself, how both of them had suffered under Deathstroke and a bunch of other things.

There were also notes on the team to make readable for Dawn, schedules to draw up, legal matters to take care of, potential schools to scout out for the kids, families to contact, clothes and furniture to shop for and on top of all that his own future as a vigilante to consider.

But all of that could wait as he chatted to Dawn and Hank, listening to the kids laughing and playing in the background.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dick’s to-do list made me anxious. That is all.  
> Also, I figured if Dick got prescribed antipsychotics, there must have been a medical professional involved and I don’t think Dr Leslie is a licensed psychiatrist.


	9. The Recovery

A few weeks later, life in the Tower had stabilized and everyone had settled into a new normal.

Having other adults around to help wrangling the kids was even more helpful than Dick had ever imagined. Instead of Dick falling back on Brucisms or _The Art of War_ quotes to cope with awkward situations and agonizing over each interaction with the kids and whether he was scarring them for life, there were two other people who could take over and make things work. 

Dawn was a natural, seeming to figure out what each person needed to make them comfortable and supported. Rachel already liked her with Gar and Jason quickly warming up to her too. Dick would often wander into the second living room to find the four of them chatting and making jokes.

Dick had worried about Rose seeming to keep her distance emotionally but Dawn reassured him that it was just Rose's way and she was still exploring her relationship with Jericho. Dawn also pointed out that Rose trusted Dick and would chose him to talk to when she needed. Looking back on their shared experience, Dick saw some justification for that, even if it still confused him.

Dawn had settled into the leadership role very well, so much so that Dick was reluctant to even float the idea of taking back the reins. He felt much more comfortable on comms, training or doing the ‘behind-the-scenes’ work than making speeches or being responsible for field decisions. They’d have to have a long discussion sometime in the near future about that.

Hank had taken longer to find a rhythm with the ‘young ones’ (as Dick had started calling them after they’d protested his use of ‘kids’ or ‘children’). But as Dick had predicted the atmosphere lightened after a few training sessions run by Hank which had ended in ‘secret’ junk food or other treats Dick usually banned. Dick thought Rachel and Rose probably saw through the ruse, but no one brought anything up so Dick was happy.

It helped that Dick and Hank had actually managed to sit down and clear the air between them. Dick had wanted to laugh over how both of them had assumed Dawn preferred the other one. All the time Dick had been with Dawn and seeing her connection to Hank, literally waiting for her to leave him, and then Hank had experienced the same thing!

“Trust me, even if I did want to get back together with her, she definitely never will.” Dick said.

“I know that.” Hank replied, eyes clear and body language open, for once.

“Good.” Dick said, slightly suspicious by that easy answer.

Hank sighed. “It wasn’t, it  _ isn’t _ all just about Dawn. The kids weren’t entirely wrong. I may be, slightly, a little bit, jealous of you. Sometimes.”

Dick blinked. “Why?”

Hank scoffed. “Seriously? Okay, you don’t have to play dumb. I get that some people find this whole false modesty thing charming but you don’t have to pretend with me.”

“Hank, I genuinely don’t know what you’re talking about. Are you jealous because I was the leader? Because it wasn't like I was any good at it. I just figured none of you wanted the responsibility.”

Hank frowned. “Are you being serious?”

“Yes?”

“Huh.” Hank uttered mostly under his breath. Then he looked up, expression bright.

“You know I like this new you.” He said, clapping Dick on the shoulder. “We’re good.”

“Okay…” Dick replied, not sure what was happening. After that though, things felt easier between them and Dick relaxed, not second-guessing everything he said to Hank. 

Once Hank had built a rapport with the others, he’d led in the field a few times and there hadn’t been any major problems. When Dick had given a few gentle pointers, Hank hadn’t even taken offence. Progress!

Dick had made good on his suggestion and booked some therapy sessions for himself. Ironically, he’d felt a lot more centered after setting things right between himself and the team; coupled with his happiness at seeing everyone else bonding, he’d almost cancelled the sessions. It had been Rachel who’d frowned him into attending though and he was glad she’d done that.

Contrary to what the scathing voices in his head had predicted, his therapist had not judged him. She instead had coaxed him into explaining how he felt and helped him see when he was holding himself to an impossible standard. She gave him some techniques to cope with the extreme negative thoughts and prescribed some new medication. It was a process and his brain wasn’t ‘fixed’ by any means. Still, he felt like he was on the right track. 

After sorting out some legal issues, Dick became Rachel and Gar’s legal guardian - and wasn’t that a head trip? Although he’d started the process through necessity, he found that he really liked the idea and the kids had taken it on board with gusto. They called him ‘dad’ with increasing frequency and sometimes with affection rather than laughter. 

Once the legal process was complete, the kids reluctantly enrolled in a local school. Rachel had missed less than six months and had a good transcript from her old school, so academically she did just fine. Socially, she had Gar as a big brother to look out for her and she was happy to find some like-minded people to hang out with.

Gar had a spottier education, having lived at Caulder House for three years and been ‘homeschooled’ by various people there. Working with his teachers, Gar and Dick worked out a plan to catch up with his credits in the year and a half he had until his class would graduate. Gar grumbled about all the extra hours of study he’d need to do but Dick promised to allow him more time and help where he could. 

Jason had dropped out of school a few years before but once Bruce had adopted him, he’d enrolled Jason in a long-distance course to get a high school diploma. Being a smart kid, he didn’t need much help with the actual content, just in motivation. Once Dick had access to Jason’s assignment schedule, he had no qualms with pulling Jason from patrol if he didn’t stay on top of his work. 

Likewise Rose had been pulled from her school when Slade had started training her so she hadn’t graduated either. She had been resistant to the idea of studying to get her diploma but Jason had talked her around, likely using the same arguments Bruce had used on him. 

Jericho had been in his first year of community college majoring in music, so he expressed interest in returning to the course, although that had sparked debate about how the siblings would split their time. Gar suggested they both do part-time courses and they agreed. 

Dick was so proud of all of them.

They took pains to keep their crime fighting low-level. Dick made sure to keep up to date with all the major gang players and police operations to avoid stumbling into anything bigger. He knew, intimately, how much police hated capes for ruining things and attracting super villains. Back in the day, they had interrupted some drug busts but had never managed to achieve more than temporary chaos and a headache for the drugs unit. Dick hadn’t appreciated how annoying they must have been until he’d become a cop himself and learned about paperwork.

Hank and Dawn both advocated for doing more to break up smuggling rings but Dick pointed out they needed more time to get to know the lay of the land. As well as make in-roads in the local police department.

There was also the problem of Jason’s hatred for cops. Dick had briefed Hank and Dawn, warning them to never leave Robin alone with any number of police officers as it would surely end in disaster. Dick had also tried lecturing Jason on upholding the reputation of all the Titans but that had gone down like a lead balloon.

Jericho had provided the answer though. He suggested Jason be tasked with investigating the cops in their district to find out which were clean and which were dirty.

“They’re all dirty!” Jason had exclaimed.

“Dick wasn’t.” Rachel had pointed out.

“Yeah, but he’s  _ Dick Grayson _ .” Jason had replied and Dick hadn’t been sure how to interpret  that. After a few more protests, however, Jason agreed and did, in fact, find some beat cops and detectives he didn’t hate and deigned to work with.

The only thing still bothering Dick, other than Kori and Donna’s continued absence, was that he and Jason hadn’t hashed it out. Whenever he tried to bring it up, Jason would invent an excuse to leave the room, or look so panicked that Dick would back off. Overall he thought Jason was happy, he interacted well with the others and his performance in the field was stellar. Still, Dick missed the closeness that they’d been building those first three months in the Tower.

Finally, he talked Hank and Dawn into taking Rachel, Rose, Jericho and Gar out for breakfast one Saturday morning. He was low-key impressed by how stealthily they all left, giving him winks as they tiptoed out. By the time Jason rolled into the kitchen, only Dick was there with some pancakes, bacon and coffee.

Although never a morning person, Jason sensed something was off immediately. It had probably been Dick’s awkward smile.

Jason narrowed his eyes. “What’s going on? Where is everyone?”

“Out for breakfast.” Dick put his hands up before Jason could respond. “If you want we can join them.” He took in a deep breath. “But I’d kinda like to spend time just with you.”

“So we can ‘talk’.” Jason said, though he did take a step closer.

Dick sighed. “I think we need to.”

Jason considered for a moment before shrugging. “Okay, but I want coffee first.” 

Dick handed him a cup and they both fixed themselves a plate.

“I knew you’d come for me.” Jason started a few minutes later, startling Dick who’d been staring into his cereal.

“Good.”

“No, not good. I knew you’d be dumb about it and…” Jason sighed. “You almost died because I went off on my own, glory-hunting!” 

Dick recognized Bruce’s vocabulary there and could perfectly recall how Bruce used to say it. 

“Technically true. But if I had communicated better, maybe you wouldn’t have felt the need to prove yourself to me.” 

“Not everything is your fault, Dick.”

“I’m responsible for you. It’s my job to keep you safe and to stop you making the same mistakes I did.” 

“Aren’t you supposed to avoid this kind of thinking?” Jason pointed out. 

Dick huffed a laugh. “Okay Dr. Todd, I get the hint.” He held out a hand. “How about we both try to communicate better?”

Jason rolled his eyes but shook Dick’s hand. “Sure thing, dad.”

Despite the irreverent tone, Dick’s heart still leapt. “I’m really glad you’re here.”

Jason flushed a little and grunted what could have been a reciprocation that he’d likely deny if called out on it.

They chatted for a bit about inconsequential things, moving over to the couch. 

Then Jason asked.  “So when are you going to call Bruce?”

“Uh, what?”

“You know, to talk about all of your issues? How he fired you? For real.”

Dick sighed, genuinely not knowing how to express the tangle of emotion in his chest. 

“Thinking about it, he never actually said you quit.” Jason said. “Neither did you. I just assumed.”

Dick lolled his head back against the back of the couch. “Well a year ago I did quit. Kind of. More like, I just left without saying anything and he didn’t call. You know about Zucco...” He trailed off, seeing Jason nod. 

Dick smirked a little. “Now the time before me and Donna launched the Titans, that was more of a ‘I quit’, ‘you can’t quit because I’m firing you’ thing.” He huffed. “I think it was a mistake to make Bruce watch the Office.”

Jason frowned. “Huh, Bruce pulled a Michael Scott?” He shook his head. “Wait, that’s not the point. Dude, you may not believe me but he misses you and he’s sorry. I know it sucks how he’s not touchy feely or whatever but sometimes you have to make the first move with him and he’ll meet you halfway. Don’t you remember?”

Dick tilted his head. “I’ll think about it. I promise.”

Jason smiled and Dick’s heart swelled as he thought that was the most genuine expression he’d seen from Jason since the day they met. He dragged his little brother to a hug, enduring the half-hearted elbowing and whines with a goofy grin on his face. When he finally pulled back, Jason’s face was a little pinker and he didn’t move away when the others returned. Instead they sat, thighs pressed together and a lingering warmth cloaking itself over them. 

...

The day Dick got the call that Donna and Kori were coming back, he couldn’t stop whistling. The kids were perplexed, having never heard him do that before; Dawn and Hank just laughed and gently ribbed him.

Donna reported that they had liaised with the Green Lanterns about Tamaran and after lots of negotiations and meetings, had established a peace treaty with Blackfire. She would be left to rule Tamaran unchallenged as long as she made no incursions on Earth or neighbouring worlds. According to Donna, Kori’s sister appeared cold and calculating, causing both Donna and Kori to question how long the treaty would last. Still, all they could do now was wait. The Lanterns had promised to keep tabs on movement around Tamaran so they should get a head’s up if it looked like Komand’r was planning something.

Dick didn’t really care about the details, he just wanted to know when Kori would get back to the Tower. Donna tried to tease him but he was so excited, he didn’t even care. There were so many things he wanted to talk to her about.

Though when Kori was finally in front of him, he didn’t know where to start. They’d moved to her room after everyone had gotten in their greetings. Kori looked tired but less anxious than when she’d left.

“How’s therapy?” She asked.

He smiled, relaxing a little. This was Kori, talking to her was easy. “Good, actually.”

“I never thought I’d see the day Dick Grayson would open up.”

“Har, har.” He huffed, though his center felt all gooey and warm.

“You look good.” She stepped into his space, so close he could smell her shampoo.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, “more sure of yourself. It’s very sexy.” 

“Is that right?” He asked, eyes drawn to her lips and nerve endings coming alight.

She hummed and leaned in. The kiss was tentative at first, questioning, before Dick pressed in even closer. Hands beginning to roam, Dick lost himself in Kori’s brilliant presence and scorching heat.

Later, under the covers and still wrapped up in each other, Dick held Kori to his chest and said.

“So I know I’ve made progress on the whole opening up thing...”

Kori was lightly stroking a near-invisible scar on his left pectoral. “But…?”

“I don’t know if I’m ready for a relationship.”

“Is that where this is going?” Kori looked up at him, tilting her head with a mischievous glint in her eye.

He pouted and she laughed, leaning up to kiss him on the lips.

“I want to be with you.” He said after the moment of levity faded.

Kori sighed and dropped her head back onto his shoulder. She pressed her palm flat over his heart.

“Believe it or not, I think you’re right we should wait. My sister will pounce on anything she perceives as weakness and I can’t put you through that.”

To her surprise, he laughed. “After all those lectures you gave me about being afraid to let people in….”

“This is different.” She looked up at him, genuine concern on her face.

“Is it? I know what it’s like to have enemies, Kori. I’ve…” He looked away for a moment and she knew by now that meant he was hiding the emotion in his eyes. After a beat he continued. “I’ve lost people because of the things I’ve done.”

He looked back at her; pain still lingering but his expression was calm. 

“I know. Just, can we wait a while? See how she responds to the treaty?”

“Okay, so we’re taking a rain check.” He brushed some strands of hair away from her face. “But for the record, I really like you.” 

“I like you too, Detective Grayson.”

She settled back down and Dick stared at the ceiling, unable to believe his good fortune.

There was still a lot to do and Life was sure to throw some curve balls his way after this extended vacation; but Dick knew that with all the Titans with him and seeing who he really was, they could face anything together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One day I will write a Dick and Bruce heart-to-heart, I’m working up to it.   
> Couldn’t find any info on Rose’s age so decided to make her the same as Jason, she looked like she was going to a prom when Slade picked her up three years before season 2 so yeah, she could be 19.  
> Who else is hoping for some great Kori and Komand'r scenes next season? And if Komand’r doesn’t abduct Dick to get to Kori, I will be disappointed. I’m still annoyed Dick and Kori didn’t even get a kiss in s2!  
> Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting, you made my day!  
> :D


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